Captain of the Crew
by Lizell
Summary: The plot follows the life of Lyzara Dalis after her graduation from Starfleet Academy. (Star Trek Online storyline). Contains spoilers!
1. Episode 1: Training Cruise

**So, this is my first fanfiction and I hope you'll enjoy it. Please review and let me know if you like it and if I should keep writing, critique is always welcome. **

* * *

EPISODE 1: TRAINING CRUISE

Cadet Lyzara Dalis sat on a bench in Starfleet Academy and looked around. The building was huge, with round corners and big windows. There were also several smaller round buildings in the vicinity, all metallic grey colored. Between them lay a park with several small ponds between the bushes, trees and flower beds. Farther away she could see the Golden Gate Bridge. Everyone was busy and didn't pay much attention to their surroundings. It was one of the busiest days of the year, because the young cadets of 2409 would get their first assignment on a starship. She had been through this before and could recall the memories of her symbiont's previous hosts. Lyzara was a Trill; a species native to the planet of the same name. A small percentage of the Trill co-exists with a symbiotic organism inside their bodies. When joined, the symbiont merges with the host and it results in a synthesis of two beings, allowing the skills, memories and, to some extent, personalities to transfer from previous host to the next one. Lyzara was the fifth host of the Dalis symbiont and therefore had some experience with serving on a starship. Two of the previous hosts had been Starfleet officers, both in the tactical department, but Lyzara was more talented as an engineer and therefore the experience was quite different from what she remembered. To repel her anxiety, she decided to meditate for a moment and set her head straight. Lyzara had light complexion with dark purple spots and circles, not very different of a leopard's, on the sides of her face and going all the way down to her toes – a pattern distinctive to the Trill. Her hair was dark, almost black, with some lighter brown highlights, and tied back to a bun. Her eyes were ocean blue and eyebrows thin. She was quite fit and had a height of about 180 cm.

* * *

Lyzara woke from her thoughts when someone was loudly calling her name from afar. She opened her eyes and noticed a cadet waving excitedly at her – Elisa – maybe she had heard something about their assignment. Lyzara rose and ran towards her. Elisa, being a human and a tactical officer, was also well-trained and had short, dark brown hair that hung loosely around her face. Her eyes were a bit lighter shade of brown than her hair and her skin had a nice tanned look, which made her lips seem even fuller than they were. Or was it lipstick?

"Finally, I was beginning to think you forgot what day today was," Elisa said as soon as Lyzara was close enough to hear her.

"How could I? You've reminded me every day of the past month. Did you get your assignment?" Lyzara answered with a smile.

"Of course, I was first in line! Oh, before I forget, Razkii is just ahead, he wanted to thank you for helping him cram for the astrometrics final," Elisa continued.

"I'll better accept the thank you then, maybe he'll even buy me a drink," Lyzara said. Both of them laughed and she made her way towards the Saurian cadet. Razkii had smooth matte pink skin and large yellow eyes.

"There you are! I wanted to thank you for helping me pass that final… and for all other times you've helped me. I've always admired you, Lyzara, I hope Starfleet recognizes all you've done to lead our class. What ship did you get?" he said with one breath. Lyzara blushed and answered:

"I haven't received my assignment yet." He seemed a bit surprised.

"Well, good luck! Before you go to lieutenant Ferra, talk to T'Vrell. She seemed to get emotional."

"She's a Vulcan, she doesn't get emotional," Lyzara said, to which Razkii only shrugged, and she continued towards T'Vrell. T'Vrell had long black hair and pointed ears. Also her facial lines were quite sharp and defined well her blue eyes. Her body was also a bit slimmer, but not untrained, as scientists didn't have to be physically as capable as tactical officers.

"Greetings," T'Vrell said as Lyzara approached her.

"Razkii said you had something to tell me," Lyzara enquired.

"Yes, it was good of you to encourage me to retake the linguistics final. I was willing to accept my original results, but you saw that I was not at my best that day. My score increased by 12, 8 percent on the second attempt. Now I am qualified to serve as both science officer and communications officer," she said calmly.

"M'Rew would like to see you as well; he is ahead of us in the path. Live long and prosper." Lyzara could never understand how the Vulcans could stay calm and rational in every situation. She knew that they suppressed their emotions, but they never looked like robots. Somehow Vulcans had managed to stay in-between of those two things. Anyways, she continued to talk to M'Rew.

"Oh, there you are!" M'rew said with his usual purring voice.

"Getting excited yet? Once we finish our training cruise we'll all be full-fledged ensigns," he continued.

"So, what's the buzz?" Lyzara asked from the yellow-furred Caitian. He looked in every aspect like a cat, except he could talk and walked around on two legs. His eyes were yellow with black slit pupils and his ears had darker brown tufts at their tops, likewise his tail ended with a furry tuft. Lyzara had always liked cats, but there was something really cute about the Caitians. Of course, she would hurt every Caitian's feelings if she told them they were cute.

"The buzz is," he said, "Captain Taggert hasn't named all his senior staff yet. From what I heard the advanced phaser training is tripping people up."

"Thanks, I'll keep that in mind," Lyzara said and stated walking toward lieutenant Ferra.

She entered one of the buildings on the far side of the park and recognized Ferra in an instant. He was also a Caitian, although his fur was grayish colored and his body a bit skinnier than M'Rew's, the latter doing a lot of mountain climbing, the effects of which could be seen in his well-defined muscles.

"Good afternoon, cadet. What can I do for you?" he said when Lyzara looked at him with a face full of questions.

"Is this where I get my training cruise assignment?" Lyzara asked.

"Yes, I have the complete assignment list here. Name?" he enquired.

"Lyzara Dalis," she answered.

"Let's see, interesting… report to Captain Taggert, he's in his office," he continued, pointing at the red turbolift.

"Is there a problem?" she asked before going.

"That you're going to have to ask him," Ferra said a bit coldly.

Lyzara rang the bell on Captain's door.

"Come," a voice said. She entered the office and walked towards Captain's desk.

"Cadet," Taggert said. He was a Denobulan, and therefore had two bony ridges on his forehead; his shoulder-length hair was light brown and his face was reserved and calm, showing the experience of his long years in service.

"You asked to see me, sir?" Lyzara inquired.

"I did. I've been following your progress here at the academy and I must say, I'm impressed," he proceeded.

"Thank you, Captain," she answered.

"I'm just looking at your final test scores, but I don't see your results for advanced phaser training program," the Captain said, slightly rising his eyebrows.

"I know this program is advised, but I thought I had more time to take it," Lyzara uttered but before she got strung-up, the Captain continued.

"I want everyone on my senior staff to run that program and I want to see good results. No exceptions." Lyzara thought about what she had heard and then asked:

"Did you say "senior staff"?"

"I did. Like I said I've been following your career here at the Academy and if you complete that program I can put you on my bridge. I'll ask my tactical officer to set it up." Taggert continued.

"Your tactical officer, sir, who is that?" she proceeded to enquire.

"Another fine cadet like yourself. Her scores were almost as good as yours, but her record has a few… blemishes. Still, I'm sure cadet Flores will settle down and become a fine officer someday." Taggert concluded.

"I'll tell Flores to meet you out in the quad. Talk to her to start the phaser training and I'll see you when you're finished. You're dismissed, cadet." Lyzara saluted the Captain and left his office. That went well, she thought.

Cadet Elisa Flores was standing outside the building waiting for her.

"I got the tactical officer spot, just what I wanted. Where did you end up?" she looked extremely pleased.

"Captain Taggert says he wants me on the senior staff, but I have to pass advanced phaser training first." Lyzara told to the cadet that had in last few years become one of her best friends.

"You never did that? I thought you were Ms. Extra Credit. Everyone knows that Captain Taggert expects all his top people to pass the program," Elisa said like it was something very obvious.  
"Now you tell me…," Lyzara shook her head.

"Don't worry, you'll do fine. C'mon, I'll take you to the holodeck and set it up," She took Lyzara's hand and pulled her through the park into the main building of the Academy.

"Setting up the training program now. I hope holodeck two is your lucky holodeck," Elisa said when they reached the door.

"Have any advice for me? I want to pass this," Lyzara inquired, seemingly uneasy.

"Shoot stuff, don't die. Pretty basic really," she answered with a smirk.

"Okay, here goes then. I'll just grab a phaser," Lyzara went to a weapons locker around the corner and grabbed a pistol. Then she entered and began the program.

* * *

When she left the holodeck, Taggert and Elisa were already waiting for her.

"Well done, cadet. You're not going to break the Academy record, but your score was more than satisfactory," he said, seemingly pleased.

"Thank you, Captain. Do you have an assignment for me now?" she asked.

"Absolutely, I have a new first officer. Congratulations," he said. Lyzara looked quite surprised and stuttered:

""First officer", sir?"

"Yes. You should be proud of your accomplishments here, cadet. You have a promising career ahead of you in Starfleet," Taggert smiled.

"Thank you, sir. It will be an honor serving with you," she could finally say without jumping into the sky out of happiness. Captain nodded and walked away down the hallway.

"First officer! Way to go! Just a little jealous, I'll admit. At least now you can boss us all around like you've always wanted," Elisa said with an amused smirk.

"It's a lot of pressure, I hope I'm up to it," Lyzara answered and still looked a bit unbelieving.

"You'll do great, but we should head up to the shuttlebay. Everyone else is waiting there for the ceremonial send-off toast," And again she took Lyzara's hand and started pulling her, but this time Lyzara yanked her hand free and laughed:

"I'm your senior officer now; you can't keep pulling me around like this."

"Fair enough," Elisa answered and pretended to be offended for a moment. Then both of them giggled and they continued to the turbolift.

"OK, all of the senior staff is waiting in the lounge. I'm sure everyone's a bit nervous, this being our first real assignment and all. So I'm expecting an inspiring speech out of you, something heartwarming, make T'Vrell cry. This mission could determine the rest of our careers. No pressure," Elisa said in the turbolift. A moment later the doors opened and they stepped into the shuttlebay. They walked into the lounge where other cadets had already opened a bottle of champagne – hopefully one without alcohol – and they were handed glasses.

"May I have everyone's attention please," Lyzara said once she was in the middle of cadets. "We are the senior staff of the U.S.S. Altair. Each and every one of us has trained for the task at hand. And we are ready," she continued: "I have the utmost faith in each of you. You're the best the Academy has and together we can do anything. We will go forth boldly like Starfleet has trained us, putting to use everything we've learned here. To Starfleet Academy! To U.S.S. Altair! To her crew!" she raised the glass of 2409.

* * *

"I can't believe we're finally doing this," Elisa said when she, Lyzara, M'Rew, T'Vrell and Thel were sitting in a shuttle and flying to the orbit and toward the Earth Spacedock.

"Ah, look at that," she continued her thought, watching out of the shuttle window and admiring a ship that was currently flying out of the open doors of Earth Spacedock. "The U.S.S. Vesta, first of her class. She's got subsystem targeting, a crew of 750, auxiliary phaser cannons and even a quantum field focus controller. I can't wait to captain one someday," Elisa said with sincere admiration.

"But here's our ship. Miranda class, 200 crew, average speed warp five point nothing. She's a tough little ship though, I think I like her," she said, but with far less admiration. Miranda class was quite small, compared to the other ships in the fleet. U.S.S. Altair, Taggert's ship, had a round saucer section, to which connected two pylons on the underside of the ship and a bridge module, connected to the upper side of the saucer.

"We're the final shuttle to arrive, we need to get to the bridge," Elisa noted just before they docked in the shuttlebay.

* * *

After the docking, Lyzara's shuttle-mates headed for the bridge and she proceeded to talk to Lt. Brikkars, the duty officer in the shuttlebay, a human with short red hair and stern look.

"Name and position," she said bluntly.

"Cadet Lyzara Dalis, acting first officer," Lyzara answered.

"I have your record right here, sir. Welcome onboard the Altair." Brikkars warmed up a little. Everyone seemed to have Lyzara's record these days so she wasn't surprised about Brikkars having it.  
"Captain Taggert is waiting for you on the bridge," she added. Lyzara thanked her and proceeded into the turbolift.

When she stepped out of the lift everyone was already on their positions.

"Welcome to the bridge, Number One," Captain Taggert said to his new first officer.

""Number One"?" Lyzara asked, wondering what to think of that.

"Early in my career I served with captain who called his first officer that. I always liked it. As my Number One I expect you to ensure that my orders are carried out and to advise me on the best course of action in any situation. But first, we need to out of drydock. Get clearance from control, close the shuttlebay doors and then disable the tractor moorings." Taggert ordered.

"T'Vrell, get clearance from traffic control for the Altair to leave the dock; Flores, close the shuttlebay doors," Lyzara started carrying out captain's orders.

"Earth traffic control has cleared us to depart, sir," T'Vrell replied.

"Shuttlebay doors are closed, sir," Elisa confirmed also.

"Very good, Number One," Captain seemed satisfied.

"Potter, wait for me to disable the tractor moorings," Lyzara said, approached one of the consoles and released the moorings.

"Potter, take us out one-quarter impulse," Taggert ordered.

"Captain, may I remind you that Starfleet regulations specify thrusters only while in vicinity of the spacedock," Lyzara reminded a bit hesitantly.

"Just checking to see if you are paying attention, Number One. Potter, take us out, maximum thrusters," Captain Taggert said with a smirk.

"Cleared from drydock, captain," Elisa announced a few moments later.

"Good. Let's start with something easy. Set course for Vulcan," Taggert proceeded with his orders.

"Course laid in, sir," Potter, the ship's pilot said.

"Engage," Ordered the captain and made a fitting hand gesture.

"Captain, I'm picking up a distress call from the S.S. Break Even, audio only," T'Vrell reported.

"Let's hear it, T'Vrell," Taggert commanded.

"This is the S.S. Break Even. Our warp core is failing and we are in need of assistance," a voice of a Ferengi could be heard through the comm.

"Let them know we are on our way. Potter, lay in a rendezvous course," Taggert ordered.

"Altering course, sir. ETA three minutes," the pilot answered.

"Transporter room, prepare to beam over survivors," the Ferengi could be heard again over the comm.

"Sir, sensors can't read anything in the vicinity of the Break Even," M'Rew notified.

"Communications are out as well," T'Vrell also reported.

"Keep trying to hail them, T'Vrell," Taggert said calmly and continued:

"Number One, let's discuss the situation. You heard the distress call, what do you think we should do?"

"Is this a test, sir? Part of the training cruise?" Lyzara asked, although she was quite sure it wasn't. It never hurt to ask though.

"Absolutely not. We're the closest ship to the S.S. Break Even so it's our duty to assist," Taggert said with a slightly aggrieved tone.

"It's strange that the transmission was audio only. A warp core emergency shouldn't affect communications." Lyzara stated, quickly adapting to the situation.

"Good, what do you advise?" Captain asked.

"Shields up, sir. Better safe than sorry," Lyzara recommended.

"Raising the shields does seem to be a reasonable precaution," he agreed.

"Yes, sir. It could be a trap," she nodded.

"I agree, Flores, raise shields. Number one, get down to the transporter room, you'll oversee the rescue effort from there," Captain ordered. Lyzara rose from her chair and entered the turbolift.

"R'raak, the Break Even should be in range, give me an update," she ordered while driving down to the transporter room.

"I'm getting some weird readings," the Caitian transporter officer said. Lyzara was given no time to wonder about the number of Caitians serving on the Altair – there were quite a few of them.

"I can't get a solid lock. There may be interference. Trying to compensate," he continued.

"I think I have it. This is a lot different than the training scenarios. Beaming them over now." There was a moment of silence and then R'raak said:

"Klingons?"

"This vessel is now the property of Captain Kadek of the I.K.S. Chot," Lyzara heared a Klingon voice over R'raak's communicator. Then several shots could be heard.

"R'raak! Come in! What happened? R'raak!" Lyzara yelled into the comm.

"Stop! Security is reporting disruptor fire in the transporter room and Klingon transporter signatures are showing up all over the ship. They're boarding us," she heard Taggert's voice over the comm. Klingons were a proud warrior species, currently in war with the Federation. Their complexion was dark and they were all well-trained soldiers, wearing leather armors with steel gauntlets, spiked shoulder pads and boots. They had large bony ridges on their foreheads and long, usually braided, dark hair.

"What can I do to help?" she asked.

"You have the command codes to unlock an armory near your position. Arm yourself and any security team members you find," he answered.

"What about the enemy ship, sir," Lyzara enquired.

"We still have weapons; I'll do what I can. For now I need you to concentrate on getting those Klingons off my ship. Taggert out."

"Yes, sir," Lyzara said and proceeded to the weapons locker. She entered her command codes and picked up a phaser rifle. The moment she exited the armory two Klingons came around the corner, but she and two other cadets were able to defeat them. She was going to proceed forward, but about twenty meters ahead of her a shot by the enemy ship was fired directly into the ships hull, resulting in a hull breach and several Klingons were sucked into the vacuum of space. She got the hold of a console on the last moment and immediately a force field appeared covering the hole. Then she proceeded into the transporter room, killing several Klingons in there. Lyzara noticed R'raak lying on the ground and checked his pulse. Luckily he was alive and she quickly injected him with a hypospray. She then continued down the hallway.

"Number One, we're doing our best to cripple this klingon marauder, but I need your help. Time to show off that academy training," the Captain said through the comm.

"I can improve the ship's structural integrity field, sir," Lyzara offered. She proceeded to take the turbolift down into engineering. When she entered the lower section of the ship she encountered several Klingons, but was able to dispose of them quickly, coming at them from behind. Lyzara made her way to one of the consoles and rerouted power to structural integrity field. _That should do the trick_, she thought.

"Number One, we've got injured up here and the Klingons could send a boarding party at any time. I need you back on the bridge," Taggert said through the comm.

"Aye, sir," she answered and went down the corridor to the turbolift. When she entered the bridge she saw captain beam off the ship with a Klingon warrior. She wasn't given much time to think about it because two Klingons attacked her. She quickly took cover behind a console and fired at the Klingons, one of them falling with several phaser burns to his chest. The other wasn't going down that easily and instead of firing his disruptor, decided to use his melee weapon and threw himself on Lyzara. The next moment he was dead, killed by Elisa's phaser blast. Then she crawled away from under the dead Klingon and Elisa help her up. Lyzara saw, that several cadets had been injured, but nothing serious that couldn't have been fixed with a hypo.

"Incoming transmission from the Klingons," Flores announced. And they turned their looks to the view screen.

"This is Captain Kadek of the I.K.S. Chot. You may have forced my boarding parties off your decks, but our ship remains cloaked. You have no hope of finding us. Your choice is simple: surrender or we'll kill your Captain and destroy your ship," Kadek said.

"Never," Lyzara answered.

"Perhaps your captain will change your mind," Kadek said with a grin.

"Order your crew to surrender, captain or I will blow them out of the sky, it's your choice, Captain, do you want these children to die?"

"Very well," Taggert said, "Number One… you are now the captain of the ship. Your orders…," he breathed raggedly, "Your orders are to lock on my comm badge and fire!" Captain commanded.

"PeHegh tohzah," the Klingon Captain yelled and raised his dagger, stabbing Taggart into his chest.

"Make… me… proud…," He said over the comm, before it ceased.

"We have target lock, Captain," Elisa said a moment later.

"Fire," Lyzara gave her first command as an acting captain. Not the command she would like to be her first. A torpedo was fired at the Klingon ship, disrupting its cloak and taking out its weapons and shields. But the ship was able to recloak before they could destroy it.

"We've lost their signal. What now?" Elisa asked.

"We… we survived. But the captain… Captain Taggert knew what would happen, but he gave the order anyway… the ultimate sacrifice, one that we all might be called to make one day. And he trusted me to take command. All we can do now is survive… and remember him." Lyzara answered and slightly bowed her head.


	2. Episode 2: Communication Breakdown

**The crew of the Altair is continuing their adventure. Please do review and tell me what you like, what you dislike and what should I do differently. Since I'm not a native English speaker, I apologize in advance for weird grammar/mistakes and I would be very grateful if you could pinpoint them to me so I could fix them. **

* * *

EPISODE 2: COMMUNICATION BREAKDOWN

"All decks reporting in, sir. We took some casualties, and sickbay is full. All ship systems have taken some damage, but some are worse than others. Life support is stable but anything else could be an issue," Elisa said after acting Captain Lyzara Dalis had ordered a full overview of the ship systems.

"T'Vrell, send out a distress call," Lyzara ordered. They were in the middle of an asteroid field. Not far from them was the S.S. Break Even and somewhere out there was a cloaked Klingon ship.

"I have been trying to get a distress call out, Captain, but something is jamming all frequencies." T'Vrell reported, calmly, as usual.

"Keep trying. Elisa, what's the status of that Klingon ship?" Lyzara asked.

"She's still cloaked, but I think she took some real damage. We're in rough shape too, Captain," Elisa stated.

"Thel, damage report," the Captain turned to the Andorian chief engineer. Thel was well-built and his skin was livid blue colored. His hair was white and cut short and he had two antennae on his frontal skullbone, which aided in balance. Thel's facial lines were rigid, giving him a bit harsh look.

"Still running diagnostics, sir. Took us some time to get the systems back online," he apprised.

"What about the Break Even? Hail them, T'Vrell," Lyzara continued, trying to find a way out of the situation they had gotten themselves into.

"Hailing the Break Even now, Captain," T'Vrell said as she pressed the buttons on her console.

"S.S. Break Even, this is the Starfleet vessel U.S.S. Altair. What is your status?" the Captain said into the comm.

"Oh, um… hello, Starfleet," the Ferengi said as the view screen turned on. He had brownish-colored skin and an enlarged skull. His ears – the most distinguished feature – were quite large and there was a prominent cranial ridge connecting them. His nose was wrinkled and his look overall egoistic.

"No hard feelings, right? I had to send that distress signal – if I didn't that crazy Klingon was going to blow my ship into space junk!" He continued with a smarmy voice,

"And, um, because Starfleet's always ready to help and all, could you repair my ship? I'm grateful for all you've done to save my ship and cargo already, but the sooner I can get out of here; the sooner I'll be safe from Kadek."

"I'll see what we can do," Lyzara said and terminated the communication.

"We've scanned his ship, Captain. It looks like she just needs three or four warp induction coils. We have plenty of those to spare," Thel informed.

"Very well, beam them over," Lyzara ordered.

"Thanks! We'd help you if we could, but I just don't see any profit in that, you know," the Ferengi captain said and warped out of the system. Typical Ferengi, always thinking about profit.

"Well, looks like we're on our own. At least they said thank you, I guess," Elisa told,

"What about that cloaked ship full of Klingons?"

"Thel, do you have that damage report?" Lyzara continued from where they had left off.

"Almost done, Captain. Level two diagnostic shows that almost all of the plasma injectors are damaged beyond repair." Thel stated. _Well, the situation couldn't get much worse_, Lyzara thought.

"Do you have replacements?" she asked.

"Not enough. Plasma injectors are made to withstand quite a beating, but I think the Klingons specifically sabotaged them when they boarded us. It's an easy way to cripple a ship. I'm installing what spares we have, but we're short three injectors. Without them, we can't go to warp," he finished the report. Apparently, Lyzara was wrong – it could get worse.

"Any ideas, Flores?" she inquired.

"We're not the first ship the Klingons have hit here. There's wreckage all over this region. I can scan the derelicts and see if any of them have intact plasma injectors," Elisa offered.

"Do it," Lyzara nodded.

* * *

"Bingo! I found some suitable debris in the boneyard nearby," Elisa said when they had flown around a few minutes and scanned different ships.

"There are suitable parts in one of the nacelles approximately 16, 7 kilometers from our location," she reported her findings.

"Good, set a course and beam them aboard," Lyzara ordered with a slight relief. There was still a Klingon ship somewhere out there, but things were looking up. After they had beamed aboard the injectors, and Thel had got a good look at them, he said: "These plasma injectors will do the trick, sir. Gorgeous technology; type-R if I had to guess; 3, 7 liter flow put with shielded reservoirs and a drop flow induction coil…."

"That's good," Lyzara answered and raised her eyebrows a bit, when the other bridge officers looked like they hadn't understood a word of what Thel was saying. She could hear Elisa whispering to one of the officers something about the Captain taking advanced engineering classes in the Academy to which that person understandingly nodded. Lyzara ignored them and continued talking to Thel.

"But remember the Klingon who wants us dead. I need you to work fast."

"You have your problems, I have mine. I'll need some time to get everything installed and run a level one diagnostic. We don't want to blow up the moment we hit warp one," the chief engineer said and started giving orders to his team.

"Elisa Flores, give me a status report," Lyzara requested.

"Thel's dealing with the warp core, but until he's done we're still stranded out here with no way to call for help. Oh, don't forget the cloaked Klingon battle cruiser. It's probably making repairs faster than we are," she announced. How could Lyzara possibly forget about the Klingons when everyone was constantly reminding her? She changed the subject: "Any chance we can determine what's jamming communications in this system?"

"Of course we can! We're the class of 2409! T'Vrell has been working with the engineers, and they've pinpointed the locations of several Klingon signal jammers. That's what blocked our communications during ambush. I recommend we destroy them," Elisa stated.

"Sounds good. Helm, bring us around to the satellites," Lyzara ordered.

"Yes, sir," Potter complied. She steered the ship onwards, close enough to fire.

"Fire," Captain commanded and ship's phasers quickly destroyed the satellites.

* * *

"I haven't forgotten about you! Think your ship can take a couple more hits?" the Klingon Captain said through the comm and a moment later the Klingon warship decloaked. It fired a few shots at the Altair adding more scratches to her already fractured hull and recloaked.

"Long range communications are operational, sir. Shall I send the distress signal?" T'Vrell asked as soon as the battleship had disappeared again.

"Yes, transmit it on all frequencies," Lyzara ordered.

"That Klingon ship took some real damage from our torpedo. I'll bet she's leaking plasma all over the place. We might be able to use that to find them," Elisa proposed.

"Do it. We need to find him before he ambushes us again," the Captain agreed.

"Understood. I'd rather not die to Klingons on my first day," she said and continued in a moment: "Got it! I can trace the plasma signature right to the source; I'll send it to navigation."

"Make it so," Lyzara seemed quite pleased. Finally they had an advantage.

* * *

They followed the plasma signature in the asteroid field and Klingons probably noticed that because the source was getting further away.

"Thel, we need more power to the engines," Lyzara said to the chief engineer.

"I'm working on it, Captain," he answered and soon they began to catch up with the Klingon ship. The Altair moved deeper into the asteroid field and navigating between the asteroids made it harder to follow the battlecruiser.

"Damn it! We lost the trail! They must have repaired the leak," Elisa said. Before Lyzara could comment her about using that kind of language, T'Vrell reported:

"Incoming transmission, sir. It's from Starfleet."

"Onscreen, T'Vrell," she said instead.

"This is Captain Vo'Lok of the U.S.S. Renown. Do you require assistance?" a Vulcan captain asked.

"Yes, sir. We were ambushed by Klingon marauders," Lyzara said and gave him a short overview of the situation.

"A Klingon Captain would have to be very bold to travel this far into Federation territory. Where is Captain Taggert?" he continued calmly.

"He was captured and taken to the Klingon ship. They killed him after he ordered us to fire on his position." she informed the Captain with a small note of sorrow in her voice, but tried to remain as reserved as possible. _This is not the time to mourn_, she thought.

"And did you follow his orders?" he asked.

"Yes, sir," Lyzara nodded slightly.

"So, I take it you are in command now?" Vo'Lok proceeded in his line of questions.

"Yes, sir, I am," the young acting Captain confirmed.

"Very well. We will escort your ship to Earth Spacedock," the Vulcan captain said without any emotion in his voice.

"What about the Klingon who killed Captain Taggert, sir? Kadek is still out there," Lyzara asked the Captain.

"And if he reveals his position, he will be dealt with accordingly. Until then, you are to set a course for our position. Renown out," Vo'Lok ordered, his decision seemingly final.

"Yes, sir!" Lyzara responded and they terminated the communication.

"Helm, set course to the Renown, full impulse," Lyzara commanded and the Altair was quickly moving forward. Before they reached their destination, however, I.K.S. Chot decloaked and fired its disruptors upon the Renown.

"I tire of this," Kadek said, "It's time to finish this fight." The Klingon ship launched a wave of torpedoes towards the Renown, but a Klingon cruiser is no match for a Regent-class battleship. Renown immediately returned fire and the Klingons' torpedoes exploded against her shields without leaving a single mark on the ship's hull. The Starfleet ship then quickly transferred more power into weapons and unleashed the full power of its phaser arrays.

"My house will avenge me!" Kadek yelled through the comm, just before his ship was blown into pieces.

* * *

"The Renown will escort you back to Earth Spacedock, but first we must inform the U.S.S. Khitomer that… One moment." Vo'Lok said,

"My communications officer informs me that we are unable to contact the Khitomer. We will proceed to their coordinates to determine if they require assistance, and you will accompany us to the Pollux system."

"Yes, sir," Lyzara nodded. The training cruise had gone a lot differently than she had imagined. The Captain of the Renown continued: "I hereby grant you a field promotion. This will give you the proper authority over your crew and final decision making ability for your ship until we reach Earth Spacedock." Then he terminated the communication.

"Helm, set a course for the Pollux system, warp factor 4, 5. Engage!" Lyzara said to the helmsman. She leaned back on the Captain's chair and used the few minutes before they reached Pollux to think about what had happened. The day of her training cruise had started better than she had imagined, she had received the first officer station and everything was going well until the Klingons showed up. She had many times wondered about the day of her first training cruise, but the thought that her Captain might die on her first mission and she would have to take command had never crossed her mind. And here she was, flying towards the Pollux system to save the U.S.S. Khitomer. At least it would be all over soon. They would find the Khitomer and then fly to the Earth Spacedock and report to Admiral Quinn to get a more permanent assignment.

* * *

Then Elisa interrupted her thoughts: "We're here, Captain. The U.S.S. Khitomer is dead ahead and the Renown is beside us. Our orders are to make contact with the Khitomer and find out why they haven't responded to our Hails."

"Very good, set a course for the Khitomer and hail them," Lyzara quickly came back to the reality.

"There's only static, Captain," T'Vrell said.

"Let's get through it. Boost the signal," Lyzara told her.

"Yes, sir. I will require approximately 15 seconds to make the necessary adjustments," the communications officer responded.

"Understood," Lyzara nodded. A moment later the comm channel opened and view screen flickered on.

"Ah, Captain Vo'Lok and… Captain Taggert? What are you both doing here?" the Captain of the Khitomer asked once the signal was clear enough. He was a man in his forties, had dark skin and hair.

"Not Captain Taggert, sir. Acting Captain Lyzara Dalis, in command of the Altair. Captain Vo'Lok ordered me to come with him to your location." Lyzara answered him.

"I see. Always good to follow the orders of your superior officers," he said.

"Do you know what happened to your communications?" Lyzara proceeded with the inquiry.

"These cadets were the unfortunate victims of a Klingon ambush. Captain Taggert is dead, and the ship is under the command of this cadet. The Renown was escorting them back to Earth Spacedock, but when we could not raise the Khitomer I deemed it imperative to alter our course and assess the situation. Captain Yim, what is your status?" Vo'Lok said before the Captain of the Khitomer could answer to Lyzara's inquiry.

"I'm troubled by the anomalies in this system, and if they are affecting long-range communications then they're doubly a cause for concern. Let's do this by the numbers. We've already launched nine probes. Now that they're active, we can do an in-depth scan of the anomalies." Captain Jay Yim explained.

"With all three ships collecting data, we should be able to complete this quickly and formulate a course of action. The Renown has the largest science team, so I recommend that we send our data there for analysis. Any questions?"

"No questions, sir. I'm confident that my crew is up to the task." Lyzara said to the Captain, hoping that it was going to be a peaceful scanning mission.

"You're quite confident for a cadet. You remind me a bit of myself when I was an ensign. Of course, I wasn't commanding a ship back then. Let's see how you perform before you start claiming that chair full-time" Captain Yim said with a smile.

"Understood," Lyzara told him and ended the communication.

"Potter, set course for the first probe," she ordered the helmsman.

* * *

"Reports indicate traces of gamma radiation, but there's something off in the readings," Elisa said once they had scanned the first probe.

"Khitomer here. Are you seeing the same gamma radiation levels that we are? I'm not sure that a normal scan will be enough. We might need to do a full multiphasic reading," Captain Yim advised when they had scanned another probe.

"We saw the same issue. How can we improve our findings?" Lyzara asked.

"My chief science officer, Commander Davis, suggests that performing a reverse tachyon pulsewave scan will solve our sensor issue," Yim uttered.

"Understood," Lyzara ceased the communication.

"Thel, set our sensors to emit reverse tachyon pulsewaves," she said to the engineer.

"I'm on it, Captain," he answered almost immediately and a few moments later he said: "Deflector dish is realigned, sir." Then they proceeded with scanning the third probe.

"Picking up a transwarp signature… it's right on top of us!" Elisa informed. "The Borg!" She almost yelled the last two words and that was enough warning for M'Rew to raise shields.

"**Lower your shields and prepare to be boarded. All life forms will be assimilated,**" rang immediately through the ship's communications. A Borg probe had transwarped less than five kilometers in front of the Altair. The probe fired its weapons, but M'Rew was quicker and managed to launch a full spread of photon torpedoes that crippled the Borg within seconds.

"The Khitomer is under attack!" Vo'Lok notified a moment later.

"Bring us around to the Khitomer," Lyzara ordered the helm.

"**From this time forward your culture will adapt to service ours,**" the Borg again could be heard through the comm as the Altair engaged several probes attacking the Khitomer. Three ships destroyed them quickly as they concentrated their fire.

"Hail the Khitomer," Lyzara said once the probes had been taken care of and T'Vrell opened the comm channel.

"This is the Emergency Medical Hologram aboard the U.S.S. Khitomer. I am requesting assistance from any Federation vessel in range. I've lost contact with the bridge. I am unable to contact Commander Davis for new instructions," a voice said.

"EMH? Give me a situation report," Lyzara demanded.

"The Khitomer is being overwhelmed by Borg boarding parties. These Borg are different from the ones in my history records. They seem… disconnected somehow. They're strange, but still quite dangerous."

"Can you hold out on your own? We have problems of our own to deal with." she asked the hologram.

"I'm an Emergency Medical Hologram, not a miracle worker!" he said, very displeased.

"Captain Vo'Lok, someone must have activated the EMH from the bridge," Lyzara stated as the channel to the Renown opened.

"I also came to that conclusion," Vo'Lok said, "I will send teams to aid the Khitomer. The Borg have not been seen in the Alpha quadrant in decades. Their arrival cannot simply be a coincidence. However, I hesitate to speculate without the full data from all the probes."

"What do you need us to do?" she asked.

"You will have to finish the scans. We need to know the extent of the Borg presence here. You also must inform me if you or your crew is unable to continue. The Borg evoke a strong emotional response that can rattle even trained Starfleet officers. A crew of cadets that have already survived a Klingon attack may be unable to cope," the Vulcan said.

"I trust my crew. We'll get the job done," Lyzara said with confidence and ceased the comm link.

"Set course for the last probe," she ordered the helmsman.

"Aye, sir." Potter confirmed. Soon they reached the point and began the scan.

"Please transmit the data so we may begin our analysis," the Captain of the Renown said as soon as they were finished with the scans. Lyzara nodded and T'Vrell began sending the data. A few seconds later Vo'Lok added:

"We have your data, but it will take some time for even the Renown's computer to analyze all of this."

"What is the status of the Khitomer?" Lyzara asked the Captain.

"Our tactical teams have eliminated the Borg boarding parties on the Khitomer. Why do you ask?" He replied casually. Well, as casually as a Vulcan can reply.

"Can we use the Khitomer to help analyze the data?" she explained her reasons. The fact that she was worried about the ship's crew or that the Borg could have assimilated the vessel wouldn't have been a reason good enough for the Vulcan Captain.

"There is an 88, 47 percent chance that you will need my help," the EMH said the moment Lyzara was able to finish her sentence.

"Agreed. Can you help the Renown analyze the data we've accumulated in this system?" she asked.

"I have 75 million gigaquads of computer memory and an extensive library of files on military tactics and command strategies. I believe I can spare a few bits of processing power for you," the EMH pointed out.

"Let's see what we can determine," said Lyzara. _Were all EMHs that sulky?_

About twenty seconds later Vo'Lok announced: "Borg transwarp signatures detected. Prepare your ship for combat." Several probes warped in as he finished the sentence.

"They're firing…," the EMH reported, "I need help."

"More Borg! I don't know if we're ready for this," Elisa seemed to tense up.

"Maintain your composure. Logically, you can defeat the Borg with Admiral Janeway's tactics," the Vulcan captain stated, trying to encourage the cadets, though he wasn't very convincing. A moment later the ships' combined firepower and several volleys of photon torpedoes did the trick and probes were destroyed. But the battle was not over.

"Multiple Borg warp signatures detected," Elisa informed as a huge Borg transwarp gateway appeared out of nowhere and several dozen Borg spheres warped in. "It's an invasion force.

We're outnumbered! There's no way we can…," she continued, but the Borg were quickly engaging their engines and moving away from the firing distance and into warp. Only one sphere remained behind, probably to hinder the Starfleet ships to follow other Borg vessels.

"The Borg are departing, most likely for a more strategic target. Direct your fire at the remaining sphere," Vo'Lok enjoined, "focus your fire and we shall prevail." The sphere was constantly firing all its weapons, and launched several plasma torpedoes that burned through the ships' hull. The Altair engaged evasive maneuvers to make it hard for the sphere to target her, but several shots tore off pieces from her saucer section, luckily the Renown was in much better shape and constantly fired at the Borg ship.

"Direct hit!" M'Rew said satisfyingly when a torpedo hit a weak spot in sphere's hull and sent it flying into pieces.

* * *

"Here is the situation as we see it. The Borg are using the Pollux system as a staging area for a larger mission. Long-range sensors are already detecting inbound transwarp signatures. The most likely target for a first strike is the Vega system. There is a civilian colony there, and if the Borg could take it by surprise they would have large numbers of new drones at their disposal." Captain Vo'Lok calculated.

"What is the status of the Khitomer?" Lyzara asked after thinking about what he had said for a moment.

"The Khitomer was badly damaged and there are many casualties. Captain Yim is gravely injured, but he will recover. We are still working on triage and restoring the Khitomer's critical systems. This leads me to our next course of action," he responded.

"Yes?" Lyzara asked, but she already imagined what she had to do.

"You must go to the Vega system and warn them that the Borg are coming,"

"What about you, sir?" she asked.

"The Renown is better equipped to hold off further Borg attacks and assist the Khitomer. It is logical for us to remain here. We will delay the Collective, but you must warn the colonists on Vega," he told the young Captain.

"Understood. We'll set a course for Vega," Lyzara said and the communication was terminated. She took a large breath and sat down on the captain's chair.

"Helm, set the course for Vega colony, maximum warp," ordered the Captain of the Altair.


	3. Episode 3: Assimilation of the Innocent

**And here is the third episode****. Enjoy and please review!**

* * *

EPISODE 3: ASSIMILATION OF THE INNOCENT.

"We arrived before the Borg. Now my heart can start beating again!" Elisa said with a relief when they entered the Vega system. She continued: "What are your orders, Captain?"

"Hail the colonies! We have to warn them." Lyzara enjoined.

"T'Vrell managed to establish a comm link with Willa Post, the administrator of Vega colony. It's not a great signal, but it's the best we are going to get. Putting her through now," Elisa stated.

"Greetings, Captain. Is there something I can do for you today?" the administrator asked through some static.

"The Borg are on their way to this system. You need to start evacuating," Lyzara answered the administrator.

"Repeat, please? Your signal is breaking up. Did you say the Borg? What about them?" She talked through the increasing static.

"The Borg are on their way, Mayor, you have to evacuate!" the Captain spoke as clearly as possible. The moment later there was only static.

"Comm, what just happened?" Lyzara demanded.

"I have lost contact with Vega colony, sir. Something is blocking all subspace signals in this area. Even our hails to the civilian ships are not getting through. There is a communications satellite nearby. It should boost our signal sufficiently to inform the freighters of the danger and warn the colony," T'vrell reported.

"Helm, set a course for the satellite. Full impulse. T'Vrell, when we reach the satellite, begin boosting the signal," the Captain ordered.

* * *

"Our hails are still blocked, sir. The Borg may be attempting to isolate the planet before they land. Your orders, sir?" the communications officer said after a few moments of trying.

"Thel, can you get transporter locks on the colonists?" Lyzara asked.

"The Borg are jamming up any remote signals. It's not safe to beam through that. I think I can boost the gain though," he responded.

"Hurry. I think the Borg will be here any…," Lyzara said, but couldn't finish the sentence, because her First officer interrupted:

"Transwarp conduits opening all over the system, Captain. The Borg are here!" she announced as probes warped in.

"Those civilian ships are right in the Borg's path! We need to help them!" Elisa said.

"Helm, take us to the probes, engage evasive action and fire all weapons!" Lyzara ordered and hoped that the ship could take a few more hits. Luckily, the probes they engaged weren't built for combat – apparently for only planetary assimilation – and high yield torpedoes could tear through shields in seconds. The Altair circled around the probes and did its best to avoid their weapons, though the ship still suffered several hits. In a few minutes, the torpedoes did their job.

"Captain, I have short range communications. Long range signals are still blocked. I can contact the planet and have informed Administrator Post of the situation. However, the Borg have already landed and are moving toward the colony. It may be prudent to retreat back to the Renown, sir," T'Vrell advised once the battle was over.

"We're the only Starfleet vessel in the system. We'll rescue as many colonists as we can," the Captain decided instead.

"Borg landing craft detected nearby. Captain, there are civilian ships engaging them!" Elisa reported. And T'Vrell proposed:

"I believe I can send a message to those ships,"

"Civilian ships, you are ordered to disengage and retreat! We will cover you." Elisa said into the comm. The shields on several ships were failing and one of them was leaking plasma.

"Roger that, Starfleet. All ships, fall back," the Captain of one of the freighters complied. The civilian ships warped out and left the Altair to deal with three probes. Two of them were similar to the previous ones, but the third probe was carrying heavier weapons. M'Rew launched a series of photon torpedoes towards the last one, but they only scratched its hull.

"Thel, I need more weapons power!" he yelled while helm officer was applying different maneuvers to stay away from the probes' fire and in a moment Thel said:

"This is all I can give you, fire that probe out of the sky!" M'Rew immediately compiled it into a massive phaser blast and the probe was disintegrated. The last two probes soon joined it. The Borg forces were destroyed, but the Altair was barely holding it together.

"Captain, the Borg have landed, and the colony won't be able to hold them off for long. I recommend beaming down to Vega and getting as many people out as we can." Elisa suggested.

"Very well, Elisa and M'Rew, you're with me. Thel, get as many people working on repairing the ship as you can; T'Vrell, you have the bridge. Try to keep out of the Borg's way," Lyzara said and made her way into the transporter room.

* * *

"Captain, according to our readings, over half the planet is already assimilated by the Borg. At the rate they're progressing, the region we're in will be overrun in roughly one hour. And if that wasn't bad enough, the interference is affecting the ship's transporters," Elisa informed when the three of them were standing on the planet's surface.

"Understood. We will manually tag any survivors we find for transport. Any questions?" the Captain responded.

"No, sir. We'll follow your lead," M'Rew said.

"Let's get moving," Lyzara nodded. They followed the road up the hill. Some weird mushroom-like plants could be seen all around them, the ground was muddy and large rocks were scattered on the sides of the road. In the distance Borg beams were hitting the ground. They reached a ridge and were astound of the view: one of the Borg probes had landed farther away and it was spreading green wires into the ground – nanoprobes. Were they too late?

"Those landing ships don't just carry drones. They can pump nanoprobes directly into the ground and the atmosphere," Elisa apprised, "We need to hurry. The Borg will be in this area soon." Nearby they noticed a couple of refugees and after they had tagged them and beamed them up, they continued down the dirt road that was heading towards the main body of the colony.

* * *

Soon they reached the outskirts of a colony. The mushroom things were fewer here and the ground was quite flat. They continued toward the buildings and encountered another group of colonists.

"Thank you! We didn't know if anyone from Starfleet got our distress signal and we don't have any weapons. This code will open the gate. Please – Administrator Post and some of the others are still there. You have to save them!" a Cardassian colonist said before she and the others were beamed onto the Altair. The three Starfleet officers proceeded to the console at the colony's gate and entered the codes given to them. The gate opened with a loud creak. The sight of the colony was bloodcurdling. Two Borg drones were assimilating a colonist and several more freshly assimilated colonists could be seen further away. The Borg were a combination of humanoids and machines, much like cyborgs. Their eyes or arms were replaced with prosthetics to deal with different tasks and they had implants on their hands to inject nanoprobes for assimilation. Once a person was infected with nanoprobes – assimilated –, they would become a part of the collective. The team killed the drones and the colonist with a few phaser shots and proceeded to the next group of drones that were surrounding two colonists. Luckily, they were not yet assimilated and could be beamed into the ship. Lyzara could see the same green wires that were emitting from the probe in the ground around them – the Borg had already begun the assimilation process of the colony. The Starfleet officers continued deeper into the colony, down the street and between dark metallic buildings, and saved two other groups of civilians.

"We have the civilians. There is still no sign of the Renown or the Khitomer, sir," T'Vrell reported from the ship.

Lyzara continued towards the center of the colony, where the green Borg wiring was getting denser and it could be seen on almost every step. Finally they reached the main building. She could see the Administrator standing in one of the niches and an Andorian woman with a phaser rifle firing at the Borg that were surrounding and steadily approaching them. The officers immediately joined in to help her and together they were able to kill the drones, after which the Andorian pointed the gun at the Starfleet officers, seemingly unsure how to proceed. She had long white hair and her antennae were bent forward as she was keeping an eye on the officers, but at the same time also scanning her surroundings for more Borg. Her face was cautious and her frail features were overshadowed with fear.

"I apologize for Njahla putting a rifle in your face, but if it wasn't for her the Borg would have assimilated me by now. What's the situation? Are you bringing more Starfleet reinforcements?" Administrator Post asked once the drones were killed.

"We're the only ones here, I'm afraid. The Altair is in orbit," Lyzara answered her.

"I... see. Then it's true. Vega is doomed. A single starship cannot hope to stop this. Still… there is more to do. Many citizens are hiding in their homes. We cannot abandon them to the Borg," Post said with a woeful expression on her face. The Captain decided to give her some hope and offered:

"We can rescue them, but something is blocking our transporters."

"I know. Njahla and I have been trying to get around the interference field. Thank you for tagging the people you found and getting them safely transported to your ship," Administrator said. Lyzara nodded and stated:

"That can't be everyone."

"No, there are dozens more hiding out in the buildings. But Njahla and I have a plan: we think a pattern enhancer will do the trick. With that we can transport the remaining citizens to your ship," Post instructed, pointing at the pattern enhancers nearby.

"We'll set up the enhancer," Lyzara agreed. She moved a bit away from the Administrator and with the help of her officers set it up. A communication came in from T'Vrell:

"We have lowered the shields for the transporters, sir. I will need to raise them at the first sign of Borg ships."

"The pattern enhancers are working! And not a moment too soon. I can hear the Borg moving this way," Administrator Post said.

"I need you to signal the citizens to come here for transport," the Captain enjoined.

"I'll do that. How long do you think you can hold off the Borg?" she said looking worried.

"As long as we need to," Lyzara answered and gave the officers orders to defend the area as the first group of Borg appeared from around the corner. M'Rew threw a grenade in the middle of them, killing several Borg, and stated: "Remember when we thought fighting a crazed Klingon was the worst thing that could happen today?" Many citizens were running past them towards the transporter enhancers where they were beamed up to the Altair, one group after another. The Borg kept coming and M'Rew threw in another grenade that killed a group of Borg. As another group of colonists ran towards the pattern enhancers, several Borg followed them and the away team opened fire. One of the Borg shot a running colonist and she fell down as the blast hit her left leg. Another drone then injected the woman with nanoprobes right before Njahla fired a phaser beam through his head. The other colonists had already reached the enhancers and beamed to the Altair. The woman looked at the away team, her eyes dilated in fear. Then she stood up and started limping away from them. When Lyzara tried to get close and help her, she yelled: "No! Save the others! You can't help me anymore, I'm already hearing them!" she ran towards the colony centre and was out of sight within seconds. Lyzara stood there for a moment, cursing herself for not being able to save her, but then T'Vrell hailed them: "Shields are back up, sir, but more Borg vessels are warping in on our location. We have detected a type of generator near your position. There is a 94, 6 percent chance that it is the device affecting our transporters. If you can destroy it, we will transport as many people from the area as we are able."

"Hang in there, T'Vrell, we'll be there soon. Mayor, thank you for your assistance," Lyzara said.

"Thank you for everything you've done! Even though it was impossible to save everyone, those you did save will be forever in your debt. Don't forget that," she responded and beamed up to the ship.

"I'm not finished yet. Njahla, are you coming with me?" the Captain asked.

"Glad to do anything I can, sir. I was born on Vega. There's no way I'm sitting by and letting the Borg take it without a fight!" the Andorian said.

"Alright, let's get moving." Lyzara commanded and they approached a console to open the colony gate. Almost everything around them was covered with Borg wires, the buildings had a greenish glow on them as did the ground.

"Njahla, you're going to see friends who have been assimilated. Don't hesitate," Elisa said to warn Njahla. She responded:

"I know the drill. Just never expected any Borg here, you know?" They approached one of the consoles and entered the command codes to open the gate. Several Borg were right behind it and attacked them as soon as the gate opened. M'Rew threw a grenade in the middle of them killing three and the remaining two were taken down by the phaser blasts. They continued through the gate out of the colony, into what used to be a beautiful grove, but was now being assimilated and full of different sized wires. They followed the road up a small hill and encountered a Borg patrol. The team concentrated their fire on the drones, but kept their distance to prevent the Borg from administering them nanoprobes. The drones were killed one by one and they resumed moving toward the Borg generator. Now almost nothing around them reminded the beautiful colony Vega used to be. Then they reached the top of the hill and could see a generator ahead of them. It was surrounded by a force field.

"It looks like the Borg are activating the transport inhibitor," Elisa said once they had moved a bit closer. The team engaged the Borg protecting the force field generator. M'Rew threw in a grenade, killing most of them, and stated: "Now I'm officially out of grenades." They focused fire on the remaining drones and were steadily gaining the upper hand.

"The Borg are so… what's the word? Effective? Systematic? Evil? I'm going to go with evil," Elisa uttered when they were shooting at the last drone. Once the drones were down they disabled the Borg field generator.

"**We are the Borg. Resistance is futile**," they heard a drone that was previously working at the transport inhibitor say. Say is not the word. It sounded like thousands of voices were talking at the same time in perfect sync. The team concentrated the fire at the remaining drone, but suddenly their weapons were no longer having any effect. The Borg had adapted to their weapon frequency. Several more drones beamed in and they were also immune to the phasers. The team started retreating to where they had come from, when they saw a beautiful white-haired alien woman ahead, running towards them. She was closing in quickly from behind the Borg and before she reached them, she jumped up and attacked the drones from above with two long knives, one in each hand. The woman quickly and cleanly killed the remaining Borg. She then turned, quickly holstered her knives and grabbed a pistol from her belt. With one clean shot the generator exploded and then she walked towards the Starfleet officers who looked extremely amazed and impressed at the same time. She was quite short, couldn't have been more than 160 cm tall. Her skin was light, with a pinkish shade and she had two short horns on both sides of her face, starting from the back of her cheeks and going diagonally up the side of her skull, ending with a sharp tip. The Alien's features were soft, almost fragile and a darker pink line was running down her forehead to the tip of her nose. Her face was cupped with her long locks.

"That… was impressive," M'rew was first to talk. The alien woman just nodded. Elisa gathered her thoughts quickly and said:

"The ship is transporting anyone they can get a lock on, Captain, but we don't have much time. We need to get back as soon as possible."

"Are you coming with us?" Lyzara asked the mysterious woman. She nodded and Lyzara continued: "Altair, five to beam up."

* * *

Once they were back onboard the ship and had left the alien with other colonists, Elisa reported:

"We're packed to the brim with civilians, Captain, I don't think we could fit one more soul on this ship. Communications are still jammed so we can't reach the Renown or the Khitomer. Thel managed to boost the structural integrity so we're back in action, but the most immediate problem is the civilian ships in this system. Vega is a huge trading outpost – there are always ships traveling here. We need to warn them the Borg have taken over."

"Can we reconfigure the satellites in the system to send an automated warning?" Lyzara asked.

"Possibly, but what we need to do is high-tail it out of here with those civilians. Of course, the path to the satellites does lead away from the plane, so we could remotely reconfigure them as we leave. The message won't get very far, but anyone who enters the system will get the signal and be able to turn around before it's too late," she answered.

"Sounds like a solid plan. Helm, lay in a course for the first satellite," the Captain ordered. They quickly closed in on the satellite and once close enough, the ship emitted a reconfiguration signal. One down, two more to go.

"I don't think the Borg like us hanging around! Multiple probes inbound!" Flores said and a moment later two probes warped in. The Altair focused fire on one probe and Thel's structural integrity modifications were doing their job – the Borg weapons didn't create more hull breaches. When the probe's shields were down, M'Rew launched two photon torpedoes that sent the probe flying into pieces. The explosion of the probe badly damaged the other one and they could destroy it with a few shots. Then the Altair continued to the next satellite.

They emitted a similar pulse and had reconfigured the satellite when a Borg sphere warped in.

"**From this time forward, your culture will adapt to service ours,**" rang though the comm.

"Never thought I'd wish I was back at the Academy studying for the astrometrics final…," Elisa noted.

"Tell me about it…," M'Rew agreed and continued: "One of the sphere's sides seems to be badly damaged, probably the work of the Renown. I suggest we concentrate fire in there if we hope to destroy it."

"Do it," Lyzara concurred. M'Rew immediately sent a full spread of torpedoes toward the sphere's weak point and they had a direct hit. The sphere went up in an explosion.

"Sir, there are several fast-moving ships on sensors. No way to contact them, and I can't tell if they are friend or foe," Elisa notified a moment later.

"Hopefully they're friends," the Captain said, "Let's reconfigure the last satellite." The Altair was moving towards the last satellite, but before they were able to reach it, another Borg ship warped into the system – a cube. It immediately fired its weapons and caught the Altair in a tractor beam.

"A cube? Guess it's our time to go out in a blaze glory," Elisa uttered. The Altair fired continuously all its weapons, but they couldn't even bring down the cubes shields, not even talking about scratching its hull. The Cube however was quickly bringing down the Altair's port shield, despite the best efforts of the engineering team. Just when everything seemed to be completely hopeless, several ships warped in – Starfleet. The Captain of the Regent hailed:

"Exceptional effort. Now let us finish this." Several Starfleet ships unleashed the full power of their weapons on the cube and it was enough to break the Altair free from the Tractor beam. The ship at once engaged evasive maneuvers and escaped from the reach of the cube. The Starfleet vessels continued firing at the cube for several minutes and one of them – the Khitomer – got hit with a Borg kinetic beam that cut off a large piece of its already crippled plating on the ship's hull. Slowly, but steadily the cube was submitting to the superior firepower. And finally it went up in flames as the plasma leaking from it ignited when it came in contact with oxygen aboard the cube. After the cube was destroyed the Renown hailed:

"We held off what we could at Pollux and sent a signal out to Starfleet. These were the closest ships. Others will be arriving as soon as they can. "

"Glad to see you. There's no way we could have defeated the cube ourselves," Lyzara said to the Vulcan Captain.

"You have handled things well thus far. Excellent thinking on reconfiguring the satellites into warning beacons. We received the signal as soon as we arrived in the system," he seemed… pleased. If a Vulcan can seem pleased.

"Are we going to attempt to retake Vega?" Lyzara asked.

"I will be discussing that option with the other Captains here, but your priority s to protect the civilians you have on board, as well as to ensure the safety of your crew. The Khitomer will return to Earth Spacedock with you. Once you arrive, report to Admiral Quinn. He will have more information for you," he responded.

"Yes, sir," Lyzara said, and, after ceasing the comm link, continued: "Helm, set the course for Earth Spacedock, warp 4. Engage!"

While they were en route to Earth Spacedock, the captain decided to speak to the alien they picked up on Vega. She went to a computer panel and enquired about her location. "The female of an unknown species is in sickbay," the computer answered with its robotic female voice. Lyzara entered the turbolift and rode a few decks downwards. She walked down the hallway and passed many colonists from Vega. Some of them looked scared and some were crying, while the others were trying to find some place where they could be of use. Anything to get their mind off things. When the Captain entered the sickbay, an interesting view unfolded: the alien was treating several wounded refugees and the ship's doctor Morek was nowhere to be seen. There were also a dozen bodies on the ground, because the beds were full, with blankets over their faces – causalities of the attacks. The alien woman was standing between the injured colonists and looked quite busy. Her long white hair was loose on her back and she was wearing a dark body-suit. Lyzara made her way toward the alien that noticed her almost immediately.

"Ah, hello, Captain, I believe I didn't introduce myself when we first met. My name is Dgirexox," she said. Her voice was quite high-pitched, but soft.

"I am Lyzara Dalis, Captain of the Altair. When we first met, you didn't say a word," Lyzara answered. The alien smiled and explained:

"Yes, I was a bit… overwhelmed at that moment."

"That is understandable, but where did you learn to fight like that and where is Morek, the chief medical officer?" Lyzara enquired.

"As for Morek, he's over there," Dgirexox responded, pointing at one of the covered bodies, "I did everything I could for him, but it was already too late. And the answer to your first question is: I don't know."

"You don't know?" Lyzara asked, with sorrow in her voice. She had lost too many good officers.

"Yes, I don't know. I woke up in the Vega colony about a year ago. I have no memory of who I was or where I belonged. I don't even know what planet I'm from," she said, "The colonists helped me and since then I've been trying to collect bits an pieces of my life prior to Vega. They named me Dgirexox after a word I repeated in my sleep. I only know that I can heal people and I recently also discovered that I fight well with knives."

"That's quite a story," Lyzara was quite impressed.

"Yes. If you don't mind, I'd like to get back to tending the injured," she told and turned away from the captain. A moment later Elisa informed her through the comm:

"We'll be arriving at the ESD in three minutes."

"I'll be right on the bridge," Lyzara confirmed, had a last glance on the alien and headed to the turbolift.

After they had docked in Earth Spacedock, Lyzara went to Admiral Quinn's office where the Admiral was already waiting for her.

* * *

"Greetings, acting Captain," the Trill admiral said when Lyzara entered his office.

"Admiral, sir! Lyzara Dalis reporting," she answered.

"We have a lot to discuss, Cadet Dalis," He stated.

"I'm no longer a Cadet, sir," Lyzara corrected the Admiral.

"Yes, I see that here in the report transmitted by Captain Vo'Lok. He granted you a field promotion to give you seniority over the rest of the active crew of your ship. As a cadet, you were assigned to an Academy training cruise, under Captain Masc Taggert, correct? Acting first officer?" He continued. Lyzara confirmed his data.

"I've read the reports. Facing off against Klingon raiders and a Borg invasion force within hours of leaving Starfleet Academy. Very unusual. In your own words, tell me what happened out there," he said. So Lyzara told him about everything that had happened.

"That's… quite the story," he said when Lyzara had finished.

"Yes, sir. It's all true," Lyzara confirmed what she had just said.

"Don't worry. I have statements here from Captains Vo'Lok and Yim and Willa Post from Vega colony collaborating to your story. All three of them cite your bravery and command skills, as well as you and your crew's willingness to get yourselves in harm's way to preserve the lives of others," he apprised.

"I'm a Starfleet officer, sir. It's in the job description," Lyzara answered.

"And you're exactly the kind of officer Starfleet needs. I know that your ship might not be the Enterprise, but I think you've proven yourself capable of sitting in her Captain's chair."

"Sir?" the Lyzara inquired.

"Under normal circumstances, it would take you years of work to get your own command. But these are not normal circumstances. We're at war with the Klingon Empire. The Borg have returned. I'm losing more trained officers and ships than I can spare. Ships we can build, but leaders with courage and honor… those are harder to find," he continued, "It's time to try something different. I need someone who can handle themselves in a crisis and get the best out of their crew. Even though you're young, I think you're that person. I hereby grant you the rank of Captain and all the rights and obligations connected to this rank. I also give you the command of the U.S.S. Altair. Don't disappoint me."

"I won't sir. But what's going to happen to Vega?" She enquired.

"Unfortunately, the Renown and her task force were not able to repel the Borg. Vega is lost. Starfleet command will meet with Federation President Aennik Okeg, and the Federation council to determine our next steps. For now, Starfleet vessels will patrol the outskirts of the Vega system to ensure no Borg escape. Do you have any further questions?"

"No, sir. What are your orders?"

"You will be assigned to the Klingon front, but first take some time off with your crew until the Altair is in drydock for repairs, you've earned it. Dismissed."

"Yes, sir." Lyzara said and saluted the Admiral.

* * *

As the fresh Captain walked out of the Admiral's office, Elisa said through the comm.

"Sir, could you please join me in Club 47?"

"I'll be right there," she answered and started walking towards the club. When she arrived, every senior officer of the Altair was already there and Njahla and Dgirexox had also joined in. They were all sitting around the table a bit further away from the bar and waiting for their captain.

"Finally, you're here," Elisa said when the Lyzara approached her.

"Sit down and have a drink!" she continued and handed the captain a glass. Then she asked:

"So, what did the Admiral say?"

"Well… he promoted me to Captain and gave me the command of the Altair," Lyzara said as casually as she could.

"He… what?" Thel couldn't believe his ears.

"Yes, I have to submit the list of my senior officers within next two days," Lyzara continued with a smirk. Everyone around the table remained silent for a moment and then T'Vrell raised her glass and said:

"To Captain Lyzara Dalis." And everyone followed her example.

"To the Altair," Njahla toasted.

"To Admiral Quinn," Elisa said.

"To the colonists of Vega," Dgirexox followed them.

"To the Starfleet Academy," Thel raised the glass.

"To fallen friends and comrades," M'Rew said and everyone slightly lowered their heads.

"To the crew of the Altair!" Lyzara finished the toast.

And they drank the sweet saurian wine.


	4. Episode 4: Stranded in Space

**So, here's the next episode. The updating will be a bit irregular, especially when the school starts, because then I won't have much time to write. I'll do my best to write a few episodes in advance, but I can't promise anything. But coming back to the story, please enjoy and I would really appreciate a review. Pretty please?**

* * *

EPISODE 4: STRANDED IN SPACE

Captain's log, stardate 91634.7

The Altair will be released from dry-dock within the next two days. I have sent Starfleet my list of senior officers and although a bit skeptically, it has been confirmed. Commander Elisa Flores is to be my first officer, M'Rew the chief tactical officer, Thel K'Phav will be serving as my chief engineer, T'Vrell as the chief science officer, Njahla Syhr as the chief of security and my chief medical officer will be Dgirexox.

* * *

Captain Lyzara dalis walked down the ship's corridor and was overseeing the final touches done to the Altair. The engineering team had worked for over a week and, among other things, had installed new shields to the ship. Suddenly she heard Elisa call her from behind.

"Captain! Ah, I was just looking for you, sir," she said.

"Well, I'm here. What is it?"

"There's one thing we haven't done yet, sir, and we can't leave the dock until that's done," Elisa stated with a knowing smile on her face. Lyzara seemed a bit puzzled of her statement for everything that needed to be done to leave dry-dock was to her knowledge already done or being done at the moment.

"What is it?" she asked and lifted her eyebrows a little. Elisa's face lit up and she said:

"We haven't chosen our uniforms yet. All crew is wearing the ones they got their hands on aka Sierra and Antares type uniforms, but you need to decide what is going to be the overall look of the crew."

"What's wrong with Sierra and Antares uniforms?" Lyzara was still a bit puzzled.

"Well, nothing's exactly wrong with them, it's just that they don't look very… stylish."

"So, what do you want the crew to wear then?" They continued their conversation as they entered the turbolift.

"I was thinking of something more elegant and tasteful," Elisa said looking thoughtful. Then she pulled out a PADD from behind her and gave it to Lyzara.

"I was thinking of this," said with a wide smile. Lyzara looked at the picture of a uniform. It consisted of short black boots, long black pants and a black shirt with a raised collar, white shoulders and a sleek metal strip on the lower edge of the shoulder pads.

"You do know that this is the Odyssey uniform," the Captain said.

"Yes, I do. And it looks so damn beautiful."

"Hey, watch your language. Odyssey uniform is for the officers that work special ops. We can't wear it."

"But it's just a uniform."

"No, Commander Flores. That's final. We'll be wearing Sierra type two uniforms, so would you please inform everyone."

"Yes, sir." Elisa said and stepped out of the turbolift as it stopped a few seconds later. Lyzara continued to the bridge. Sierra type two uniforms consisted of black boots, pants and a black shirt with career specific colors on the shoulders and sides.

"Captain, hail coming in from Starfleet," T'Vrell announced when the Captain had just entered the bridge.

"Put it on screen, lieutenant." The view screen turned on and Admiral Quinn could be seen in his office.

"Captain, I've received a report that there is a Bolian freighter that is overdue arriving Earth Spacedock. It may need assistance. Malcolm Sissel has more information than I do," he informed and the comm signal was rerouted to the shipyard.

"Greetings, Captain," Sissel said, "We haven't heard a communiqué from the S.S. Azura in more than twenty hours. Danna Brett is an experienced captain and the daughter of a former Starfleet officer. It's not like her to be out of contact. It would be a real help if you could find the Azura. I've already transmitted the ship's last known coordinates to your Conn officer. Good luck!" Lyzara nodded and terminated the communication.

"T'Vrell, hail the spacedock and request a permission to leave,"

"Immediately, Captain," she responded.

"Thel, are you ready down there?" Lyzara asked.

"All readings are normal; we're ready to get back out there."

"Spacedock has given us clearance to leave, sir. Tractor beams have been disabled," T'Vrell reported.

"Potter, take us out. Nice and slow," Lyzara ordered and the spacedock doors opened as the ship flew out into the open space.

"Take us out of orbit and engage warp four," she said and Earth got smaller and smaller behind them.

After they had been on their way towards the last known coordinates of the Azura for a half an hour, their sensors were finally starting to pick up something.

"Captain, I'm picking up a distress call," T'Vrell said.

"On screen."

"To any ships in range … this is Danna Brott of the transport S.S. Azura. Please help … warp core containment field down … radiation flooding ship … communications and life support failing. Cannot eject warp core … need evacuation and assistance. Please help us!"

"This is Captain Lyzara Dalis of the U.S.S. Altair. We're on our way," the Captain said.

"Potter, adjust our course."

They were closing in on the coordinates of the Azura and they could hear the distress call again. "Please help … being pursued by Orion raiders … crew injured … taking heavy fire … dropping out of warp near your coordinates … need immediate evacuation and assistance." A moment later a freighter dropped out of warp in an asteroid field being pursued by two Orion corvettes.

"Put us on an intercept course," Lyzara ordered and they quickly closed in on the enemies. The corvettes disengaged from the Azura as the Starfleet ship approached them. They diverged and tried to outflank the Altair, but asteroids made it hard to keep a target locks so they had to keep close to the Altair to maintain it. The Altair engaged evasive maneuvers, turned itself around and fired a volley of photon torpedoes at the Orion raiders. One of them lost control over the ship and crashed into the nearest asteroid, the other one was luckier, but a few directed phaser shots burned right through its hull.

"Captain, I'm detecting elevated radiation levels on the Azura. I've alerted the transporter chief of the situation. She can brief you before you beam over to the Azura," T'Vrell said when she had scanned the freighter.

"Vey well, Njahla, Thel, M'Rew and Dgirexox meet me in the transporter room. Elisa, you have the bridge." Lyzara said and entered the turbolift along with M'Rew and Njahla – Thel was in the engineering and Dgirexox in the sickbay. They picked up phasers from the weapons in the transporter room and were just about to step on the transporter pads, when R'raak, the transporter officer, informed:

"Captain, I'm concerned about the radiation on the Azura. She might have some damage to the warp core, but our sensors can't pick up enough to determine exactly what you'll find over there. I'm sure I can send you and the away team to the ship safely, but getting you back might be a problem until the Azura's critical damage is repaired. Be careful, sir"

"Try to keep a lock on us and prepare to transport survivors," Lyzara responded and they stepped onto the pad for transport.

* * *

"Sir, I'm picking up multiple lifesigns. Some of them are the Azura's captain and crew, but the rest are Orion!" Njahla reported once they had rematerialized onboard the Azura. They beamed into one of the freighter's corridors. The hallway was dimly lit by emergency lights and several bulkheads ran along the walls. The floor was covered with lattices.

"Stay alert!" Lyzara said and they made their way down the ship's corridors. They turned around several corners and didn't see a soul. When they turned around the next corner, some liquid plasma was leaking from the conduit above and hindered their progress.

"I think I can seal the leak," Thel said.

"Do it," the Captain told him and he went towards one of the consoles on the wall and reoriented the plasma flow.

"There, that should do it," he said a few seconds later as the plasma no longer leaked from the pipes. They continued down the hallway and almost walked into an Orion patrol around the next corner. They were mostly thugs with iron shoulder pads and hard leather suits with bare arms. The team hid behind some crates and attacked them from behind, disposing of the Orions quickly. There was also a group of Orion thugs in the next room, but the Starfleet officers were again able to get rid of them silently and quickly before they were able to raise the alarm. The team continued towards the engineering.

* * *

When they reached the engineering Thel immediately scanned the warp core. The engineering was large with a blue warp core in the middle that was beaming intensely. The ground was still covered with lattices and plasma coolant pipes ran on the walls. Several consoles were located around the core and on the walls; many of them had red warnings.

"Catastrophic failure of antimatter containment, warp core breach imminent. Captain, unless the breach is contained, the Azura will be destroyed," the chief engineer said. Lyzara was just about to answer, when Captain Brott joined them in engineering from another hallway. She was a Bolian with dull light blue skin and stripes in darker shades of blue running down her face.

"We hit an Orion ambush on our way to starbase K-7. We lost our weapons almost immediately and then we took a direct hit near engineering. Our warp core's magnetic antimatter containment field failed. My crew did everything they could, but the radiation took its toll. We had no choice but to drop our shields and use the power to try to stabilize the containment field. As soon as the shields were down, Orions boarded the ship," Captain Brott said and then fiercely added: "I'll never let those green pirates have the Azura! Please, take my crew to safety; I'll keep trying to stabilize the warp core. If I'm lucky, I'll buy you some time."

Lyzara nodded to the captain. Suddenly Thel said:

"Captain, my scans indicate that if power from life support is diverted to the containment, we could stabilize the warp core long enough to erect a force field, which should hold the antimatter long enough. It's risky, but unless we do something the warp core will explode."

"It's worth a shot," Lyzara agreed. Thel immediately started rerouting power and engaged the force field.

"Azura makes it through the next few minutes." He informed.

"Good, let's get the crew into safety," Lyzara said and they went down the hallway towards aft cargo bay for beam-out. A few Orions beamed in about twenty meters ahead from their location and opened fire. The team was able to take cover behind some cargo containers and they fired their phasers. Lyzara noticed from the corner of her eye how Dgirexox moved into the shadows and sneaked towards the Orions. She jumped at them and distracted them long enough for the team to end them. Finally they reached the cargo bay.

"Go to the transporter room, we'll be right behind you!" Lyzara said to the crewmembers of the Azura that had followed them.

"Away team to the Altair, Chief, are you ready to transport? The Azura's radiation levels are returning to normal, the survivors are on the transporter pad. We don't have much time! Get these people off this ship now!"

"We have them, sir," Chief answered, "Sensors detect more Orion ships on the way, Captain. We need you back on the bridge!"

"Roger, beam us out," the Captain said.

* * *

The moment Lyzara entered the bridge; three more Orion corvettes warped in. The Altair engaged evasive maneuvers and launched a wave of torpedoes towards the corvettes. The ships returned fire, but newly installed shields were holding and the Orions were being run over. Soon all three corvettes were destroyed and T'Vrell said:

"Scanning the Azura, sir. Radiation levels are normal and the force field around the warp core is holding. She's out of danger. Captain Brott is hailing us, sir. Putting it onscreen."

"Many thanks, Altair! If it hadn't been for you and your crew, I would have lost my ship and my life. I'm in your debt. I'm going to take the Azura to Earth Spacedock for repairs. If I see you at Club 47, the drinks are on me!"

"Now that the Azura is safely away, sir, we should take the survivors out of the system. Starfleet is sending a shuttle to retrieve them, and they can rejoin the Azura at Earth Spacedock," Elisa notified, "Ready to leave the system on your command, sir."

"Depart system." The Captain said and leaned back on her chair. Her first mission had been a success.

* * *

"You know what we should do?" Elisa asked M'Rew when their shift had ended and they were sitting in the ship's lounge. There were many tables and couches in calm blue tones in the room and large windows with a view at the stars as they flashed by when ship warped past them.

"No. What are you thinking?" he answered.

"I think we should all do something together when we're off duty."

"Like what?" Njahla joined the conversation.

"Like… play poker?" Elisa proposed.

"You want to gamble?" Thel asked as he joined them at the table and sat down next to Njahla.

"I think the Captain wouldn't like that," M'Rew claimed.

"Well, then something less gamble," Elisa wouldn't leave it.

"Like mountain climbing?" M'Rew proposed.

"M'Rew, you're probably the only one around here that goes mountain climbing on the holodeck voluntarily," Thel said as he sipped his greenish colored drink.

"It's fun!" M'Rew argued.

"And dangerous. We need something more like… like…," Elisa was intensely thinking.

"Like pool?" Dgirexox suggested and joined the merry fellowship.

"Yes! Excactly! Pool! We're going to play pool!" Elisa exclaimed.

"I think we even have a pool table around here somewhere," Thel went along.

"Eem… I don't want to break your bubble, but what's pool?" Njahla asked looking a little lost.

"Don't worry, we're gonna teach you," Elisa said decisively. Then she looked around and asked:

"Does anyone know where T'Vrell is?" Everybody shook their heads and Elisa continued:

"If we're going to do this together, we need her too."

"What about the Captain?" M'Rew pointed out.

"Yeah, of course, she too," Elisa nodded.

"Why don't we distribute tasks?" Dgirexox proposed, "I could find T'Vrell."

"I and M'Rew are going to find that pool table and set it up in the officers' lounge," Thel said.

"I think I will just get acquainted with the rules," Njahla concluded.

"You can help us with the table, we could always use another hand," Thel offered and Njahla nodded in agreement.

"And I'll just tell the captain that we're about to rearrange some furniture," Elisa stated, "Well then, let's get to it!"

* * *

"Computer, what is the location of Lieutenant T'Vrell?" Dgirexox asked.

"Lieutenant T'Vrell is in her quarters," the computer's voice answered. Dgirexox entered the turbolift and rode a few decks upward. Then she rang the bell on T'Vrell's door.

"Enter," she said. Dgirexox entered the room and saw T'Vrell sitting on the ground, legs crossed.

"Is there something you need?" she asked.

"We thought that it would be nice to get together after duty to play a game of pool."

"Oh, that wasn't entirely unpredictable; it is acceptable that the crew participate in recreational activities together. It helps to create a sense of camaraderie and improves relationships between the crew," she said calmly and continued, "For what reason have you come to see me?"

"You're one of the ship's senior officers and I thought that you would like to join us."

"A game of pool is a game of precision and tactics. Very well, I will join you."

"Great. We are to meet the others at the officers' lounge at 20-hundred hours."

"Did you inform the Captain of your plans?" T'Vrell inquired.

"Elisa is just telling her." Dgirexox said.

"One more thing, Dgirexox, do you already have balls?"

* * *

"Where did you last see that table?" M'Rew asked, when three of them were finished going through the ship's cargo holds.

"Somewhere around here. I don't remember exactly," Thel answered.

"Maybe it's somewhere in the lower decks?" Njahla asked.

"No, we don't store things there. It has to be in the cargo hold," Thel said convincingly.

"But we have searched everywhere," Njahla told him.

"She's right. If it was here, we would have found it already," M'Rew agreed.

"Where else could it be?" Thel inquired.

"What did you say it looked like?" Njahla asked.

"It's a big brown table with a green cover," M'Rew said tiredly and Njahla snapped her fingers.

"I think I know where it is!"

"Where?" both men asked.

"I saw it one day when I was walking around in the engineering section,"

"Why would it be in the engineering?" Thel seemed puzzled.

"Don't ask me, I didn't put it there, but I think it was used for storing some crates and tools," Njahla continued.

"Well, we've finally got a lead," M'Rew said and they started walking towards engineering.

* * *

"You want to do what?" Captain asked when Elisa had told her about their plan.

"I think it would be fun," Elias said. They were in captain's ready room and Lyzara was just finishing off with her last reports of the mission. The room was quite small with a desk directed towards the door, on which lay a computer and several PADDs, an aquarium on the wall and a window behind the captain. On the opposite of the aquarium stood a couch and a replicator in the corner by the door.

"Where will you get all the equipment from?"

"Thel said there was a pool table lying around and I'm sure we'll find balls and cues somewhere."

"And you'll set it up in the…"

"In the officers' lounge, yes. You are also invited to play, sir."

"I don't play pool, but I think it's a great idea. Good luck!" Lyzara said and Elisa could finally breathe easily. For a moment she had already thought that the Captain was going to ban their game.

* * *

"You're already here," Elisa said when she entered the officers' lounge.

"And we have the table and the cues," M'Rew said. They had set it up in the side of the room furthest from the large window, as that was where all the furniture had been arranged, and a light was directly above the table just like it needs to be.

"But sadly, we couldn't find any balls," Thel stated.

"Don't worry, we have them," Dgirexox announced as she and T'Vrell entered the room.

"I had a spare set that nobody was using," T'Vrell said. Everyone was a little surprised about her having spare pool balls around, but stranger things had happened.

"Do we actually have Captain's permission?" Njahla asked.

"Yeah, I talked to her. She won't be joining us, but she seemed quite thrilled about the idea," Elisa apprised.

"Well, we're all here and the ball problem is solved, so let's play pool!" M'Rew said.


	5. Episode 5: Diplomatic Orders

**Here it is, the next episode. Enjoy and please let me know what you think about the story so far. **

* * *

EPISODE 5: DIPLOMATIC ORDERS

Captain's log stardate 91656.8. We are on our way to Vulcan to pick up Ambassador Sokketh who is travelling from his home world to P'Jem system. Our orders are to make sure he gets there safely, because capturing him would be a major coup for the Klingons or Orions.

* * *

"Captain, we have arrived at the Vulcan system. I took the liberty of contacting Ambassador's aide when we arrived. T'Pela says that the Ambassador has certain arrangements that he prefers when travelling. She would like to go over them with you, sir," T'Vrell informed.

"Very well, put her on the main screen," the Captain said.

"Greetings, Captain Dalis," T'Pela told once the view screen turned on, "Ambassador Sokketh is currently attending a ritual to honor the end of the Kal Rekk holiday. He will be done soon, but the Ambassador is… hesitant to use transporter technology. His bias against the transporters is not logical, but I have come to accept it. I believe that Sokketh would be much more comfortable traveling to the Altair by shuttlecraft. You have clearance to land near the Ambassador's location," she finished and ceased the comm.

"Nice people those Vulcans," Lyzara said with only a small hint of sarcasm and continued:

"Elisa, join me in the shuttlebay, T'Vrell, you have the bridge." Lyzara finished as she and Elisa entered the turbolift.

"Finally a nice peaceful diplomatic mission. I've been quite looking forward to it," Elisa said to the Captain. She smiled and answered:

"Well, let's hope it stays that way. By the way, how was the pool game last night?"

"It was… a game. We're all quite rusty, but we're getting better. You could join us some time, sir"

"Mmm… maybe one day." Lyzara said and they entered the shuttlebay where a shuttle was already ready to depart.

* * *

"Starfleet shuttlecraft, this is Vulcan orbital control," a female voice sounded through the comm as they entered the atmosphere of Vulcan homeworld.

"You are cleared to land at the requested coordinates," the voice continued and they could already distinguish the red rocks of the desert planet. Several mountains could be seen far beyond. They landed on a small landing pad near a Vulcan temple.

"Captain, the Ambassador and his aide are waiting for us at the top of this rise. We can speak to them and find out if the Ambassador needs anything else from us before we depart to P'Jem;" Elisa reported when they had landed and pointed toward the location of the Ambassador.

"It is a nice day for a walk," Lyzara said and both of them started going up the hillside. Beside the trail stood some Vulcan columns that looked quite old and were made of the same red-colored stone they had seen when they landed. All around them was desert sand and a few plants were growing here and there. When they finally reached the hilltop, there was a round Pavilion that looked a bit like Stonehenge on Earth, but was much better preserved because of the dry climate. It was also made of the same red stone, but there were also reliefs around each column.

"Welcome to Vulcan, Captain," Ambassador Sokketh said as soon as he noticed them. He was an older Vulcan with dark hair and traditional Vulcan haircut.

"Thank you very much," Lyzara answered, "Could you tell me about P'Jem?"

"P'Jem is a small world near Andoria. It is sacred to our people. There have been Vulcans on P'Jem for centuries, although in Earth year 2152, the ancient buildings that housed our monastery were destroyed by the Andorians," he said. His voice was calm and pleasant and he continued the history lesson.

"It was a failing in our logic that led to conflict with the Andorians. After the Federation was founded, a group of Andorians, Vulcans and Humans rebuilt the monastery as a symbol of peaceful coexistence and cooperation. Since then, a group of monks has lived there. They study the ideals of Surak." Lyzara nodded knowingly. The incident of P'Jem had been a subject in a history lesson at the Academy. There had been a Vulcan listening station there that was monitoring Andorian communications. Naturally, the Andorians were not thrilled about that so they attacked the monastery.

"What business do you have at P'Jem," Lyzara asked instead of proceeding with the inquiry of the history of P'Jem.

"My business is my own," the Ambassador answered sulkily, "If you must know more, I require a meeting with the abbot. He will not use subspace communications so if I am to receive his counsel I need to meet with him directly."

"So, Ambassador, are you ready to leave," the Captain enquired. Sokketh chose to ignore her question and said instead quite heartedly: "This is ridiculous! Access to P'Jem is strictly limited to preserve the sanctity of the monastery. No outsiders are permitted to land without the express permission of Savin, the leader of the order that maintains the planet. Ordinarily this would not present any difficulty, but Savin has chosen this moment to illogically question my visiting the monastery. He is refusing to grant leave for me to meet with the abbot of P'Jem," Lyzara was starting to wonder if the Ambassador was really a pure-blooded Vulcan or if he had any Human ancestry, but the Ambassador continued before she could finish her thought.

"If I do not complete my journey to P'Jem now, I will have to delay it until the trade conference at Coridan is complete. And that could take weeks. I fear I have spent too much time off world. While I find it easy to deal with others, my own people can be… stubborn. Perhaps you could speak to Savin. I know he has a great respect for Starfleet, and you might have an easier time than I have," he finished and turned his back to Lyzara.

"I will talk to him," the Captain said and left the Ambassador. As they were out of his earshot, Elisa, who had remained silent for a while, said:

"The Vulcans have weird eccentricities, one of them doesn't use transporters, the other one refuses to communicate by subspace…"

"People are different," Lyzara answered simply.

"Yeah, tell me about it." Elisa stated and Lyzara smirked. The officers walked to the other side of the Pavilion, where Savin was sitting on a bench and reading a book.

"Peace and long life," he said as they approached him and lifted his eyes off the pages. Lyzara nodded as a greeting and answered:

"I'm Captain Lyzara Dalis,"

"Yes, I know who you are," Savin interrupted her before she could continue. "Is there something you need?"

Elisa was quiet again and let the Captain do the talking – Lyzara had always been good at it. "Ambassador Sokketh, informed me that you do not allow him to visit the monastery of P'Jem, is there any way I can persuade you to change your mind?" the Captain asked politely.

"I will permit it if you pledge to me, on your honor as Starfleet officer, that you will protect P'Jem from harm. Sokketh says that his reasons for wanting to speak to the abbot are private. I will accept that, but only if you are with him. I know I can trust Starfleet," Savin told and looked into her eyes, his look pierced right through her so calm well-kept poker-face.

"I give you my word, a word of a Starfleet Captain," Lyzara answered him. He ceased his stare and turned his eyes back toward the book lying on his knees. Lyzara took it as a sign of being dismissed and turned around to deliver the message to Ambassador Sokketh. As they walked back towards the Ambassador, Elisa was finally able to gather herself enough to say:

"Wow, he was creepy" She was especially emphasizing on the word 'creepy'.

"How did you stay so calm?" she continued.

"I told him the truth. There's nothing to be afraid of when telling the truth," the Captain answered as she was pointing out the common knowledge: the first duty of a Starfleet officer is to the truth. Elisa had nothing to respond to that and they remained quiet for the remainder of the walk. Since it wasn't a very long way to go, they soon arrived at Ambassador Sokketh, who was eagerly – or Vulcan equivalent of eagerly – waiting for them.

"Do you have any news?" he asked as soon as they reached him.

"Yes, I've spoken to Savin. We can leave for P'Jem now."

"Excellent. Our departure has been delayed long enough by the whims of one man. I am prepared for the journey and can leave immediately," Sokketh sounded quite pleased with the outcome.

"Let's go then, Ambassador," Lyzara said and she and Elisa slowly started walking down the hill as Sokketh quickly gave his aide some last minute instructions and joined them. Then they walked back along alley of ancient Vulcan columns towards the shuttle in the valley.

* * *

"Potter, set course for P'Jem system, warp four," Lyzara ordered once she and Elisa were on the bridge and Sokketh had retired to his quarters to meditate.

"I'll be in my ready room. Elisa, you have the bridge," she added and left the bridge through one of the doors. Altair's bridge was mostly colored in warm orange and yellow tones with a faint hint of red near the doors. There were two doors on the bridge: one near the front of the bridge leading into the captain's ready room and the other at the back, leading into the turbolift. In the middle stood three chairs on a slightly higher platform than the rest of the room. The middle and the most comfortable one for the captain (It was rumored to be the most comfortable chair on the ship), at captain's right hand a chair for the first officer and on captain's left hand a free chair for whoever was visiting or currently needed on the bridge additionally to the bridge crew. Facing the view screen in front of the bridge were the pilot's seat and the tactical station, where M'Rew sat. At the both sides of the bridge were two more consoles: one for the science and communications officer T'Vrell – on the left – and the other for the security officer Njahla – on the right. On the back of the bridge was also the engineering and operations console, which was usually manned by a junior officer, except for those rare times that Thel wasn't spending in the engineering. There were more LCARS consoles on the walls and the bridge was quite well-lit.

* * *

"Enter," Lyzara said when someone rang her doorbell at the ready room. Much to her surprise, M'Rew walked in. She had just been cozily sitting on the couch, reading one of the reports and looking at the fish swimming around in their tank on the wall – what was it with the captains and their fish?

"Oh, M'Rew," Lyzara said and made room for him to sit beside her on the sofa. He politely thanked her and then asked: "How are you doing?" Lyzara looked quite puzzled and wondered what he had meant by that. She finally decided to answer:

"I'm doing quite fine, thank you."

"That's not what I meant. How are YOU doing?" he corrected himself and leaned a bit closer to the captain. Lyzara thought she could see sincere concern in his eyes. She leaned against the back of the couch, took a deep breath and said:

"Day by day. I never expected to become a captain so soon. I don't think I'm really ready for this. Why do you ask?"

"It's just that frankly I'm getting more and more worried about you, we all are. You should go out more, at least go to the ship's lounge and spend time with people instead of the reports. If not for yourself then for the sake of this crew. We need you," He told and rose from the sofa.

"I should report back to my post, but think about what I said."

"I will, thank you," Lyzara answered and M'Rew left the room. The Captain stood up and placed the report on her desk. She looked out of the window; the warp field surrounding the ship looked like hundreds of stars slipping by them as they drew lines of light into the darkness of space.

* * *

"Captain, we're entering the P'Jem system," Elisa said through the comm.

"Thank you," she answered and made her way to the bridge, "Please inform Ambassador Sokketh of our arrival," she told Elisa and sat down into her chair. Elisa nodded.

"Captain, I am picking up unusual energy readings in this system, I suggest we scan before taking the Ambassador to the surface," T'Vrell informed.

"Do it," Lyzara said as Ambassador Sokketh entered the bridge.

"What is the matter?" he asked and proceeded to walk to the chair next to the Captain. He didn't sit.

"We picked up some unusual energy readings upon entering…" Lyzara answered, but couldn't finish the sentence as M'Rew announced:

"Klingon ships decloaking, sir!"

"We are being hailed, putting them onscreen," T'Vrell said.

"You have a foul shape changer aboard your ship. Turn the over to us or we will destroy you!" The Klingon Captain said fiercely.

"Do you have any proof of these accusations?" Lyzara asked him.

"Do you doubt my word? Insult my honor? I have killed men for less! I have nothing to prove to the likes of you! Turn that so-called 'ambassador' over to me now or face the consequences!" the Klingon answered and two Birds-of-prey locked their weapons on the Altair. Before Lyzara could say anything, the Klingons ceased the communication and opened fire. M'Rew had raised the shields as soon as the Klingon ships decloaked and the first volley of the Klingon dual cannons clashed against the Altair's fore shields, ripping them down to seventy percent.

"Bring us broadside and return fire," Lyzara ordered and the ship turned to hit the birds-of-prey with both fore and aft phasers. As the shields of one Klingon ship were weakened enough, M'Rew fired a photon torpedo right into the hull of the ship which was enough to destroy it. The other bird-of-prey quickly cloaked to avoid its companion's fate. For several seconds, everyone on the bridge was staring quietly at the sensor readings, wondering, where the Klingons would decloak. M'Rew had his hands – not paws – on the buttons to fire as soon as the ship showed itself. The silence was tensing. Then, the Klingon ship appeared right in front of the Altair and fired a volley of torpedoes at the Starfleet ship. Potter quickly took evasive action and several torpedoes missed, but three were able to completely bring down the forward shields and draw wide scratches into the ship's armor. As the Bird-of-Prey was recloaking to come around for another pass, there was a moment when the Klingon ship's shields were down and the cloak hadn't engaged yet. M'Rew lost no time and fired right before the ship cloaked. It was a direct hit to its port engine and the ship went up in flames.

"Damage report!" Lyzara ordered a moment later.

"Our fore shields are completely down and starboard shields are at fifty percent. Emergency force fields are in place, no causalities," Thel gave her a quick overview.

"Sir, sensors are showing multiple Klingon lifesigns on the surface. The monk may be in danger. I recommend that we send an away team down immediately," T'Vrell added. Lyzara nodded and said:

"Elisa, Njahla, T'Vrell and M'Rew, you're with me. Thel, get those shields back up. Ensign Potter, you have the bridge." Everyone had a job to do and the away team took the turbolift into the transporter room.

* * *

They beamed down in an opening near the monastery that was just up the hill. All around them were ferns, trees and wild flowers.

"Captain, we need to secure the area and then make our way toward the monastery, which is located at the top of that hill," Njahla said, "I'm reading multiple Klingon patrols between us and the main building, sir. Recommend we proceed with caution."

"Acknowledged," Lyzara said and they took out their weapons. The away team continued on the road. They soon reached a small garden. The fence gate was open and they walked onwards. Soon they noticed the first Klingon patrol in the area. Lyzara signaled the team to take cover behind some bushes and they opened fire on the warriors. Several of them were killed before they could realize what was happening, but the remaining returned fire. Suddenly Njahla yelled:

"Grenade!" and they were forced to abandon their cover as the team quickly rolled away from the explosion.

"Shields down!" M'Rew said and rolled behind a bush to avoid detection. The Klingons were now shooting at the officers out in the open and the team had to constantly keep moving to avoid their shots. Personal shields absorbed most of the damage and the Starfleet officers were getting the upper hand in the firefight. The Klingons seemed to realize that and pulled out their bat'leths to attack the away team. While Elisa was concentrating her fire on one of the warriors, another came in behind her and slashed with his weapon. Luckily Elisa moved herself and the hit didn't kill her, but it tore a wide wound into her right shoulder. Before the Klingon had a chance to hit again, Njahla killed him with a direct shot into his head. As the patrol was defeated, Elisa laid on the ground, sobbing.

"Elisa?" Lyzara asked, seeming very worried, "Transporter room, beam Commander Flores to the sickbay," she said into the comm and Elisa was immediately dematerialized.

"She will be alright," T'Vrell said and Lyzara nodded as the four of them – including M'Rew who had got his shields working again – continued towards the monastery.

* * *

They soon reached the stairs leading to the hilltop without encountering any other patrols and continued up the stairs. Suddenly, Njahla put her hand on the Captain's shoulder and pointed at a Klingon sniper above. Lyzara gestured to take cover and Njahla hid behind a larger stone, where she had a good shot at the sniper. Lyzara nodded at her to take it and the Klingon fell down from the cliff where he was standing. They looked around for other foes, but saw none so they left their cover to keep going up the stairs.

* * *

As they reached the end of the staircase, they noticed several warriors pointing their disruptors at the Vulcan monks. The warriors stood with their backs towards the away team and the officers attacked them from behind. This time the Klingons didn't stand a chance. The monks nodded in thankfulness and the away team proceeded to the abbey leading to the main building. They reached it without any other incidents. The team walked up the main staircase and several Klingons beamed in. M'Rew grabbed a grenade from his satchel and threw it right at the Klingons, knocking them down.

"The area is secure, Captain," T'Vrell said, "We are receiving an alert from Vulcan. T'Pela says she must speak to you immediately. I'll patch her through to your tricorder."

"Captain Dalis, I have terrible news. Vulcan security forces have discovered the body of Ambassador Sokketh. They have determined that he was killed by a phaser blast at short range. His remains were discovered in a stasis chamber hidden in a cavern beneath the ambassador's residence. The ambassador on your ship, the one I have been working for is an imposter!" she said.

"Captain, I dispatched security teams to Ambassador Sokketh's quarters, but he's gone! We're searching the ship, but…," Elisa said through the comm, "Sir, I've just detected an unauthorized use of the transporters!"

"The Vulcan government is requesting that the imposter Sokketh be detained and returned to Vulcan for questioning. Whoever used the transporter erased the logs, but it is highly probable that he is on the planet's surface," T'Vrell stated. As soon as she could finish her sentence, the Ambassador materialized right in front of them.

"Such emotion on your face! I see now my deception has been exposed. Pity. Capturing the abbot so we could replace him as well would have been beneficial..., but we are strong. We will prevail. You are weak. And the weak shall perish!" he said and with his last words transformed into a tripedal creature – an Undine –, that had two long clawed hands. Its skin was grayish colored and its bones could be seen right through it. The creature's head was like a bugs and it looked like it had just stepped out of a horror movie. M'Rew quickly launched a grenade at it that didn't seem to do any real damage. They constantly fired their weapons at the creature, but with a few quick steps the Undine was right at Njahla, grabbed her by the throat and initiated some kind of telepathic connection between them making her scream out in pain. Suddenly, the creature let go of her and Njahla fell on the ground, unable to rise.

"Keep your distance!" M'Rew yelled as the creature was quickly moving towards the other officers. M'Rew threw another grenade at it and the explosion made the creature slightly lose its balance. Then, for a moment it stopped and didn't seem to mind the phasers that were firing at it as it took the form of a Klingon captain.

"Bothersome creatures. Why should I trouble myself with such insignificant beings, when the Klingons will do my work for me?" he said and went down to the valley towards some warriors that had beamed down on one of the stone terraces.

"Warriors, prepare for battle! Kill the Starfleet petaQ! One of them is the foul shapeshfter, I'm returning to the ship." The Klingon warriors closed in on the three standing Starfleet officers and opened fire. The away team took cover behind some Vulcan pillars around the abbey and M'Rew threw a grenade at the Klingons. Most of the warriors were injured by the grenade and didn't pose a threat. The remaining ones also fell with several phaser wounds in their chest.

"Captain, I am picking up residual traces of transporter activity in the vicinity. I believe that the Undine may have beamed to a hidden ship in orbit," T'Vrell informed after scanning the area. "I recommend we return to the Altair and find the Undine ship."

"Away team to the Altair. Four to beam up. Beam Lieutenant Syhr into the sickbay," Lyzara ordered through the comm.

* * *

"Captain, the Undine ship is on an intercept course!" Elisa said when they reached the bridge. Her hand was bandaged and traces of blood could be seen on it. Lyzara decided to order her to go to the Sickbay after this was over, but for the moment she had much bigger concerns.

"Sir, the Altair doesn't have the armaments to handle an undine attack. Starfleet reports that it is sending ships to assist us, but until they arrive, we are on our own," T'Vrell reported.

"Thel, what's the condition of our shields?" Lyzara asked the chief engineer.

"We could get the fore shield back online and I'm diverting all available power to the shields and hull, but even then we might not last long," he answered.

"We just have to hope the reinforcements arrive in time," Lyzara said.

"Captain, the Undine dreadnought is entering firing range," M'Rew announced, "Its firing weapons."

"Turn our port shield towards it and return fire," Lyzara ordered.

The Altair was completely dwarfed next to the huge Undine ship. It fired a full array of antiproton weapons against the smaller Starfleet ship and brought her shields down to fifty percent with just one hit. As the power was quickly diverted to the port shields, they dwindled under the next hit, but remained in place. The Altair fired a full spread of photon torpedoes at the dreadnought, but they barely scratched its shields. The dreadnought answered to the volley of torpedoes by sending out is own. Several Undine torpedoes were moving quickly toward the Altair and clashed with her shields, completely disabling the port shield and burning through her hull. The Starfleet vessel engaged evasive maneuvers to turn its still operational starboard shield towards the Undine ship, but the dreadnought followed and concentrated its fire on the Altair's aft shield. The Starfleet vessel transferred all its emergency power to the shields and kept remodulating its shield frequencies to decrease the damage to the shields. However, it didn't have much use as another volley of torpedoes tore down the aft shield and clashed against the ship's hull. Just when the Altair's hull integrity was nearing twenty percent, several Starfleet vessels warped in and opened focused fire on the Undine ship. Altair quickly broke combat to avoid any other hits and let the Starfleet ships take over. The focused fire of the ships' phaser arrays had devastating effect on the dreadnought's shields and hull. It was quickly losing its integrity and with the next volley of torpedoes, the Undine ship was destroyed. Everyone on the Altair could finally breathe.

"Incoming message from the U.S.S. Kirk, sir," T'vrell said.

"Put it onscreen."

"This is captain Thelin of the U.S.S. Kirk. Glad to see we made it here in time to lend you a hand, Captain Dalis. Perhaps someday you will return the favor. Thelin out."

"We have recovered the final data transmissions from the Undine vessel as well as samples of the organic material that was used to create the ship. We need to get this back to Starfleet Intelligence. They may be able to decrypt the messages and tell us more," T'Vrell informed.

"First things first," Thel interrupted, "I think we should return to Earth Spacedock for repairs." Lyzara nodded.

"Potter, set course for the Earth Spacedock. Warp 2, nice and easy," she said and leaned back on her chair.

* * *

"The ambassador was an Undine? I'm afraid their infiltration of the Federation goes much deeper than we realized. Who knows what kind of havoc they could create?" Admiral Quinn said sounding very worried. "Thank you for your report, Captain. Dismissed." Lyzara saluted and left his office on Earth Spacedock. She was just about to return to her ship when she remembered what M'Rew had said about relaxing and instead made her way into the Club 47. As she entered the club, loud music hit her like a wall and she almost considered turning around. But she was given no chance to do that as Elisa had noticed her and said: "Captain! Please do join us!" She was still wearing a bandage, but it had been replaced with a clean one.

"Shouldn't you be in the sickbay?" Lyzara asked.

"Nope. All the injured were transferred to the spacedock's sickbay and I was deemed well enough to walk around. Although Njahla is in there under intensive care and supervision. But come on, I know a quiet corner where to sit down."

"Quiet? In here?" Lyzara doubted, but still followed her. They went around the bar corner toward a table a bit more isolated from the others, where T'Vrell and M'Rew were already waiting for them.

"Hello, Captain!" M'Rew said as soon as he noticed them, "I was wondering if you'd come." Lyzara smiled and sat down beside them.

"So, this is your secret meeting place on ESD?" she asked.

"We have never deemed it secret," T'Vrell answered and took a sip of her drink – which most definitely didn't have anything to do with alcohol –. Lyzara noticed on the table a half-empty bottle of synthehol and a few unused glasses, so she beckoned M'Rew to fill one for her.

"Sir, really," a female voice said behind her. She turned to look who it was.

"Dgigerxox, join us," Lyzara said.

"You don't have to ask me twice," she said and pulled a chair from the nearest table. When she sat down, Lyzara noticed that she looked very tired and M'Rew poured her a drink.

"So, Captain," Dgirexox continued, "since when are you visiting clubs? From what I heard you don't do that."

"Since now, apparently," Lyzara answered and took a large sip from her glass. "Were you in the sickbay?"

"Yes, we transferred the wounded of the Altair and I was tending to Njahla."

"How is she?" M'Rew asked.

"She regained her consciousness, but they are keeping her in the intensive. Thel is by her right now," Dgirexox said, "Whatever that Undine did to her, it completely overloaded her neural net and she'll need time to recover." Everybody remained quiet for a while and the same thought went through their minds – it had been a close call.

"How's the Altair?" M'Rew asked to break the silence.

"The Altair will have to stay in dock for at least a week. The damage to the ship is quite extensive," T'Vrell answered him.

"Besides, the Starfleet Intelligence will need some time to crack the coded messages we recovered," Lyzara added.

"True that," Elisa said and they all took a sip of their drinks.


	6. Episode 6: Hide and Seek

**I'm finally uploading another episode. Sorry about the delay, but I've been very busy with the school and studying and stuff and I haven't had any chance to write in the last few weeks. But anyways, here it is, though I have no idea when the next one is going to be published. Enjoy!**

* * *

EPISODE 6: HIDE AND SEEK

Captain's log, stardate 91670.6. To access the following information, level 6 clearance is required. Starfleet Intelligence cracked the messages sent by the Undine agent. They contained several references to the Paulson nebula near the Lackey system. Our orders are to survey the Nebula and find out why the Undine have an interest in it.

* * *

Captain Dalis was sitting in the ship's lounge and reading maintenance reports. Again. They had left the Earth Spacedock a few hours ago and were on their way to the Lackey system. She looked up from her reading and saw Elisa standing in front of her.

"How long have you been standing there?" she asked.

"Just a few seconds. What are you reading?" Elisa answered and sat down beside the Captain.

"Maintenance reports."

"Again?" Elisa seemed surprised. Lyzara took a sip of her coffee and said:

"Yes. And if you don't mind, I'd continue reading them."

"No, sir. I don't mind," Elisa said very formally, although a bit bitterly, and left the Captain reading. When she went out of the lounge, into the hallway, she bumped into M'Rew who was walking, reading and drinking coffee, at the same time.

"Hey, watch it," M'Rew snapped without even noticing who he was talking to and did his best to balance the cup of coffee on three fingers.

"Oh, sorry, Commander, I didn't realize it was you," he quickly said as he realized he had been rude.

"Easy, Lieutenant," Elisa told and smiled. "Actually I was just looking for you."

"Me?" M'Rew marveled and set the cup onto his PADD. "I mean, why, sir."

"Come take a walk with me and I'll tell you," Elisa invited and without waiting for a response, started walking down the corridor. M'Rew made sure his cup of coffee remained perfectly balanced on the PADD and followed Elisa.

"So, what did you want to talk about?" he asked her as soon as they were walking side by side.

"You like the Captain, don't you?" she asked.

"Yes, of course I like…," Mrew said as he was sipping his coffee and suddenly spat it back into the cup as he realized what Elisa was referring to, "No. I would never…"

"Don't get me wrong, I don't have anything against it. I've just seen how you look at her and I wanted to remind you that she is your superior officer," Elisa said, staying completely calm. M'Rew stopped and looked at her. Elisa turned around; looking at him curiously in the eye. M'Rew remained silent for a moment and then just said:

"What?" Now it was Elisa that looked puzzled and apprised:

"What I just said, was…"

"Yeah, I heard what you said," M'Rew answered before she could continue, "and your accusations are completely…," he smirked and exhaled rapidly, "… absurd. Why would you ever think I was romantically interested in Lyzara? We've been friends since the Academy, yes, but I'm not having any romantic fantasies about her." Elisa just stood and looked at him. How could she be so stupid? Had she really misunderstood his intentions? Well… that was awkward. She and M'Rew were really good friends and now she had made the things quite embarrassing.

"I… I must have gotten it all wrong," Elisa said and blushed.

"Yes, you have. Now, if you'd excuse me, I'd like to go back to work. There are some phaser relays that need calibrating," M'Rew uttered and walked away, his tail wagging behind him.

* * *

Elisa cursed herself for being such an idiot. After standing in the hallway for a while, she decided to go to the sickbay and speak to the doctor. Dgirexox was exactly the kind of person she needed right now. So she took the turbolift to deck 4.

"Good morning, Commander, is there something I can do for you?" Dgirexox asked as soon as Elisa entered the sickbay.

"No, thank you, I'm quite alright," Elisa answered and wondered that maybe she shouldn't have come.

"Then what brings you here? By my experience people come into the sickbay when they are not feeling well," Dqirexox enquired, "And it seems to me that you aren't."

"No, really I'm alright. I should go," Elisa said.

"You came all this way here to leave? I can see there's something really bothering you. Let's sit down and talk, shall we?" Elisa nodded in agreement and sat beside the Doctor onto one of the beds. For some reason there were no other people in the sickbay, except them. When they had sat there for a moment, Elisa started talking:

"I… accused M'Rew in fraternizing with the Captain."

"But he's not interested in her," Dgirexox seemed to state a fact.

"No, that's what he told me… Wait. How would you know?" Elisa looked surprisingly at Dgirexox.

"As the ship's doctor I hear things," Dgirexox answered.

"You mean you know everything that's going on aboard the ship?"

"No one knows everything, but rumors travel fast aboard a small vessel like this one," the Doctor said and smiled, "But you're not here to listen to me talking. You came here to talk yourself."

"Yeah, well… I screwed up. It's very awkward now and I don't know what to do," Elisa told.

"There are only two things you can do. One is to apologize and the other is to act as if nothing happened," the Doctor said, jumped off the bed and looked at Elisa.

"So you think I should apologize," Elisa concluded.

"Does it matter what I think? I can't and I shouldn't be telling you how to live."

"Thanks, Doc," the Commander also jumped off the bed and left the Sickbay. Dgirexox shook her head and returned to her duties, wondering where all the nurses were.

* * *

Elisa went to the bridge. As she entered, everyone else was already there, except M'Rew. His station was manned by a junior officer.

"About the time you arrived, Commander Flores," Lyzara told her when she saw her enter, "We'll be arriving in a moment."

"Sorry, I was doing… something, sir," Elisa answered and sat down into her chair.

"Well, could you do that something off-duty?"

"Yes, sir," the Commander uttered and then asked: "Where's M'Rew?"

"He's down in the engineering, calibrating phaser arrays, why?"

"Oh, just asking, sir."

"Dropping us out of warp," the helmsman said. They had arrived at the Lackey system.

"Sir, we are receiving a distress signal from the U.S.S. Valor. They are under attack by Gorn and their shields are failing. Captain, they can't take much more," T'Vrell announced a moment later.

"Take us in, Potter," Lyzara ordered, "Fire all weapons." The Altair closed in on the Gorn Vishap Frigates. There were three of them attacking the Valor. As the Altair entered the battle, the Gorn ships turned their attention from the badly damaged Valor to her. They circled around the Starfleet ship, trying to find a way to outflank it, while the Altair was constantly firing at them. The Gorn ships were faster and more maneuverable, but their already weakened shields were completely disabled as the Altair fired a volley of photon torpedoes at them. As a last resort, the frigates joined their forces and attacked the Altair from her starboard side, trying to break through her shields. Their combined fire was quickly bringing down the shield, but the Altair unleashed a full spread of torpedoes that the unshielded frigates had no protection from. They passed the Gorn vessels as they blew up one after another.

"We're being hailed by the Valor, putting it onscreen," T'Vrell said when the battle was over.

"Thank you for the assist, Captain Dalis. Our ship was on a mission to map the Paulson Nebula. Unfortunately, we failed to adequately compensate for the power drain the nebula had on our engines. We retreated from the nebula to make repairs. That's when we stumbled upon an illegal Gorn mining operation. If you hadn't showed up when you did, Captain, we'd be sucking Vacuum. Our chief engineer says there's no we can make it back to a starbase. In fact, without new dilithium crystals, we're stuck," Captain Stefan Marz of the U.S.S. Valor said through the comm.

"Thel, do we have any spare dilithium crystals," Lyzara asked her chief engineer.

"No, unfortunately we don't," he answered. The Captain of the Valor continued:

"There are crystals on some of the larger asteroids here. That's why we headed for this location in the first place. If you could gather some crystals for us, we can make it to safety."

"Very well. Potter, set course for the nearest dilithium deposit," Lyzara said and ceased the comm link. They went deeper into the asteroid field and beamed up dilithium crystals from one of the Gorn mines. The Gorn patrol they had destroyed had to be only one in the area, because the ship's sensors couldn't detect any more hostile vessels. Either that or the nebula was affecting the sensors. When they had enough for the Valor, they returned to her location.

"We're in your dept, Altair. This is enough dilithium to get our warp engines restarted. After we finish preliminary repairs, we'll set course for Starbase 157," Captain Marz said when they had hailed the Valor.

"If you want to go into the Paulson nebula, your engines will need a boost. I recommend you visit Lackey III. The Gorn drove out the Federation miners there and took over a decalithium processing facility. It's only fair that you take some of our crystals back," the Captain finished and terminated the communication.

"Chatty fellow," Njahla marked. Lyzara smiled and said:

"Potter, set course for Lackey III, warp 3."

"Aye, sir," the pilot answered and the Altair entered warp.

* * *

"Captain, the decalithium processing facility is dead ahead. The Gorn have numerous structures in the debris field, sir. We're also picking up several fighters and frigates," Njahla said when they arrived at Lackey III.

"They know they're in Federation territory and they're trying to protect their ill-gotten gains. I advise we approach with caution," Elisa told and the Captain nodded agreeing. As they closed in on the decalithium refinery, they encountered three more Vishap Frigates patrolling the area. As soon as the frigates noticed the Starfleet vessel, they opened fire. This time, the Altair wouldn't let them try to flank her and unleashed a full spread of torpedoes crippling the ships' shields. When the frigates had lost shields, they engaged evasive maneuvers to get out of the Altair's grasp. One of them succeeded, but the other two were destroyed by another volley of torpedoes. Three fights and the Altair still didn't have a scratch. It was a good day. The ship moved into transporter range of the refinery.

"Transporter room, beam up the decalithium," the Captain ordered.

"Captain, we can not get a lock on the decalithium. It appears the Gorn have a sensor jamming device on one of the nearby asteroids. The computer indicates that the technology may be Klingon in origin. I will begin scanning for any suspicious tachyon emissions," T'Vrell reported.

"Sir, there may be people inside the jamming station. We need to destroy it to get the decalithium, but if we beam spatial charges down, it should give anyone inside enough time to escape," Njahla added.

"Helm, bring us around to the jamming station," Lyzara ordered. As they were closing in on the station, the frigate that had previously escaped came from behind one of the asteroids and attacked the Altair from behind. It fired a direct shot to the aft shield generator and almost brought down the shield. It had probably hoped to bring the shield down entirely and then slip in a torpedo, but Altair quickly turned her port shield towards the frigate and fired all its phasers. A Vishap Frigate alone was no match for the Altair and it was destroyed moments later. Then the Starfleet vessel beamed explosives down into the scanning station and everyone could see the fireworks.

"Potter, bring us back to the refinery and transporter room, beam up those crystals," the Captain said and helm steered the ship back towards the decalithium refinery.

"The decalithium crystals will do the trick, Captain. Engine efficiency has increased by 4,7 percent and we should be able to boost the impulse drive enough to deal with the effects of the nebula," Thel reported through the comm.

"I have the coordinates for the area of interest mentioned in the Valor's report, sir," Potter said.

"Good. Engage the warp drive and bring us into the nebula, Potter," the Captain ordered and the Altair entered warp.

* * *

"Captain Dalis, scanners show that the amount of metallic density of this region is much higher than it would be expected for a nebula of this class. There is definitely something big here and it might be hidden on another high-density object. We should scan all the high-density objects in the vicinity," T'Vrell informed when they dropped out of warp in the nebula. It was a quite thick nebula with clouds of red and white.

"Helm, set course for the closest… whatever it is," Lyzara ordered and a few officers smirked, but the Captain chose to ignore them. The Altair moved through the clouds, relying almost completely on its sensors as one couldn't see almost anything ahead of them besides the orange-yellow gas clouds of the nebula. The first thing they scanned was a ruined mining station – nothing interesting there so they moved on. After a while of flying deeper into the nebula, they almost crashed into a satellite. It was disabled, but that was about the only interesting thing about it. Moving on they also discovered a metallic asteroid and a derelict hulk that were as intriguing as the previous ones. As they moved forward, they reached an enormous asteroid that was surrounded by a minefield. The moment they came close to it, a Klingon Raptor decloaked and opened fire on them. Firing its forward disruptor cannons, the Raptor was ripping the Altair's front shields apart. The Altair flied around the asteroid to get away from the raptor's direct fire, but it only postponed the inevitable. Meanwhile, several mines had also locked on the Altair and the ship had to push its engines to the limit to avoid them.

"We can't avoid the mines and fight a raptor at the same time," Lyzara said, "Thel, could you do something about either of them?"

"Perhaps if...," Thel stopped when a mine hit the Altair and lowered the integrity of her starboard shield.

"… If we were to emit a pulse to make the mines attack the raptor instead," Thel finished his thought and another mine impacted with the ship's shields.

"We would need to emit it on the right frequency," T'Vrell told, "I can specify the frequency, if we are to let several more mines impact our shields."

"How many more?" Lyzara asked.

"Six," the science officer responded and Lyzara ordered:

"Thel, full power to the shields." The Altair came to full stop and a few seconds later the ship shook under the explosions of first mines.

"One… two… three…," T'Vrell started counting and the explosions were already starting to scratch the hull.

"… Four… five… I almost have it." The Altair's shields were failing and the entire ship shook wildly.

"Six. I have the frequency. Initiating pulse." The mines stopped as the raptor was coming around the asteroid. The Klingon ship suddenly became very irresistible to the mines and they started their approach. Lyzara would have paid to see the Klingon captain's face as the mines that had previously followed the Altair were now crippling his ship. The raptor engaged evasive maneuvers, but the Altair fired at the vessel and disabled its engines so that the mines quickly crushed it.

"Captain Dalis, we have found something. I believe you will be very interested to see the results, sir," T'Vrell said, "There appears to be a structure on the surface and we've detected several Klingon lifesigns within. Determining by the high-frequency transmissions, the structure seems to be a listening station."

"Transporter room, we're beaming down. Thel, Njahla, T'Vrell and Dgirexox, you're with me. Elisa, you have the bridge," Lyzara announced.

* * *

When the away team was safely aboard the station, Njahla told:

"Captain, we're going to have to fight our way to the computer core and upload the data there. Several Klingons are already on their way towards our location, I suggest we hurry."

"Agreed," the Captain said and they started walking to their destination. The rooms and halls of the station were quite high and were obviously made for storing cargo. The walls were light grayish colored and several conduits could be seen running through them. They went through the first room and then noticed two Klingons running towards them. The team hid behind some of the containers and ambushed the warriors. They fell with a few phaser wounds in their chest. The away team continued down the Hallway and soon encountered another patrol. The Starfleet officers took cover behind some crates as did the Klingons. Two of the warriors fell quickly when they abandoned cover but the other two were determined to kill the intruders and one of them threw a stun grenade at them. Why would the Klingons use stun grenades, remains unclear, but the momentary flash gave Dgirexox – who was apparently immune to it – enough time to get rid of the warriors. A moment later the others, that were not as immune to the flash as Dgirexox was, recovered and they could continue to the core.

"Captain, the core is in the next room. I'm detecting several Klingons there also," Njahla informed. They took cover behind the door pillars and Njahla held a stun grenade in her hand and smiled just before she threw it in the middle of Klingons. The warriors weren't given enough time to react and they stumbled around from the blast as Dgirexox finished them off.

"We can upload these records to our computer for analysis, but it will take some time," Thel informed, "Meanwhile we'll need to defend the core." He began the download and a moment later several Klingon warriors came in through the door. The team immediately attacked them with phasers and the Klingons returned fire. The fight lasted until Njahla threw in another grenade and the team finished off the warriors. Then, to prevent any more warriors of entering, Thel closed the computer core doors.

"We've downloaded the data, sir. I recommend that we get it to Satrfleet Intelligence as soon as possible," The engineer reported.

"Captain, sensors indicate several Klingon ships inbound. If we leave now, we will be gone before they arrive," T'Vrell announced.

"Altair, beam up the away team and engage warp as soon as we are aboard," the Captain ordered and they were beamed to the ship.

* * *

After Lyzara had sent the recovered data to Starfleet Intelligence, she was going to go to the lounge to have a nice hot cup of coffee and read some officers' reports. On her way there, she met Elisa, who looked quite preoccupied with something so she didn't notice the Captain at first.

"Elisa!" Lyzara said as she walked past her.

"Oh!" Elisa jumped and told: "Sorry, Captain, I didn't notice you. Do you have any idea about where I might find M'Rew?"

"He could be in his quarters," Lyzara speculated.

"His quarters. Right." Elisa uttered and started walking towards the turbolift.

"Why do you try to find him anyway?"

"It's just that... I… need to find him. That's all," Elisa fastened her step and left the Captain standing there looking very confused. Elisa took the turbolift to deck three, where the officers' quarters were located and rang the doorbell on M'Rew's door.

"Enter," M'Rew said and Elisa didn't wait to be asked twice. M'Rew was sitting on a lounge chair, reading something from his PADD. His quarters were very tidy and there were beside a sofa also several cupboards and a glass table with a flower pot in the middle. Nothing one would expect a Caitian's quarters to look like – no scratching posts or fur on the carpet.

"Oh, it's you, Commander," he said without turning his head, "Have a seat." Elisa sat on the sofa and M'Rew rose from his chair, put down his PADD and leaned against one of the cupboards, facing Elisa. Elisa looked down for a moment and then reinitiated the eye contact and said:

"I'm sorry about what I said before, if it insulted you. I didn't mean to throw around wild accusations or anything." M'Rew seemed to think for a moment and then answered:

"Yeah, I know. And I'm not mad at you. Besides, it was probably my fault for leading you to conclusions like this in the first place."

"So… no hard feelings? Still friends?" Elisa seemed relieved.

"Still friends. Now, why don't we join the others in the officers' lounge?" M'Rew proposed.

"That's the best idea of the day," the Commander agreed and they left M'Rew's quarters. Before they entered the turbolift, Elisa noticed:

"How did you know to wait me in your quarters? You knew I was coming to apologize!" M'Rew only gave her a mysterious smirk.

* * *

As they entered the officers' lounge, they heard others already talking.

"Have you completely recovered?" T'Vrell asked.

"Yes, I'm quite alright. Whatever the Undine did to me was not permanent," Njahla said, "And Thel was so sweet and stayed the entire time with me."

"That's good to hear," Dgirexox stated.

"Oh, I was starting to wonder where you stayed," Thel exclaimed as M'Rew and Elisa entered the room.

"Well, we're here now," Elisa answered.

"We were about to start a new game," Thel continued, "Come join."

"With pleasure," M'Rew said and grabbed a cue.

* * *

**For those of you wondering if there is going to be any romance, just be patient, things will develop as the story progresses. I would also appreciate your feedback, so let me know, what you think. **


	7. Episode 7: Stop the Signal

**Yay! I finished another episode. Please let me know, what you guys think.**

* * *

EPISODE 7: STOP THE SIGNAL

Captain's log, stardate 91692.1. Starfleet Intelligence has decrypted the information found from the Klingon listening post in the Paulson Nebula and they believe there is at least one more of those posts out there. They have located the signal repeater, which boosts the subspace transmissions from these listening posts. Our orders are to go to the Bomari system, find the signal repeater and use it to track down the coordinates of the other listening post.

* * *

"Captain, we are approaching the signal repeater. If we can get close enough, we can eavesdrop on the transmissions and determine the point of origin. Starfleet has reported hostile ships in the area, so we should be cautious," Elisa said when they had dropped out of warp in their destination. Around the ship lay an asteroid field and blue-colored gas had assembled in clouds around larger asteroids.

"Very well. Potter, bring us around to the repeater. M'Rew, raise shields, just to be on the safe side," Lyzara ordered and ship moved forward, circling around smaller asteroids to avoid impacts that could inform the enemies of their location. When the ship reached the satellite, T'Vrell informed: "Captain, the Klingons are using a low-frequency subspace carrier wave to send their stolen transmissions. We'll need to listen through the spectrum to figure out what the Klingons have heard and where they're sending it."

"Begin the frequency scan, lieutenant."

"Subspace frequency 8.3. Rerouting it through the speakers," T'Vrell informed a moment later and a male voice said: "… just two more weeks, but then the semi-finals are right upon us and…." The signal broke up.

"That's not it. Continue scanning," Lyzara said and leaned forward on her chair.

"Frequency 14.9," T'Vrell told and speaker lit up again. A male voice could be heard, saying: "… along the border of the sector. Redeploying tachyon sensors to pick up cloaked Klingon vessels…"

"That is valuable Starfleet deployment information. Sir, this must be the signal that the Klingons are tapping," T'Vrell said.

"We need do trace the destination of that signal." Lyzara agreed and T'Vrell started pressing buttons on her console.

"Tracing the signal now," she informed. "The Klingons are bouncing the signal off of another repeater."

"Potter, bring us around to the second repeater," Lyzara ordered as soon as T'Vrell had transmitted the coordinates to the conn officer. The ship moved deeper into the asteroid field, still trying to avoid smaller space rocks, but they grew thicker and soon they could see the ship's shield flickering as several of them crashed with the shields. They were closing in on the repeater as M'Rew informed: "Klingon vessel decloaking on the starboard side. It's powering up its weapons." The Bird-of-Prey fired a quick burst from its dual cannons, closing quickly on the Starfleet ship as if it were trying to ram it. Then, on the last moment it pulled up and around to come in for another pass. The Altair fired its phasers at the Klingon ship and its aft shield was quickly losing its integrity. But the Klingon Bird-of-Prey engaged its cloak, before the Altair could cripple its hull and vanished from the sensors.

"M'Rew, stay alert, T'Vrell, start tracking the signal," Lyzara ordered.

"Aye, sir," She answered. After a few minutes of scanning, there was still no indication of the Klingon ship and T'Vrell informed: "I have piggybacked a carrier wave on the signal from the repeater and tracked it to the source. There is a listening base located between the binary moons of Bomari II."

"Potter, lay in the course, warp four. Engage!" the Captain ordered.

* * *

"Captain, I was wondering about that Klingon ship that attacked us. It is not like the Klingons to disappear into thin air," Elisa said.

"I agree, but whatever its reasons were, I think we'll never know," Lyzara answered.

"Maybe they got scared? I mean we did cripple their shields with just a few shots."

"Possible, though very unlikely. The Klingons' idea of honor makes them quite willing to die in a battle rather than flee, which in every case is considered a great dishonor," T'Vrell stated. Elisa considered that explanation for a moment and thought that maybe they shall find out the Klingons' reasons sooner than they think.

* * *

"Sir, I'm detecting a Klingon transporter disruption field around the listening post. The field is maintained by a transporter disruptor near the asteroid belt between the moons," T'Vrell informed once they had reached Bomari II. The planet was straight ahead and the two moons just off the starboard flank. The Altair moved towards the asteroid field, there were no Klingon ships on the sensors, but they could be cloaked. They reached the disruptor fairly quickly and still the system seemed quite abandoned.

"Loading photon torpedoes," M'Rew said as they were in weapons range.

"Fire," Lyzara ordered and a volley was moving fast towards the satellite, crippling it a moment later. Less than ten seconds after that, a Klingon Bird-of-Prey decloaked on the port side, fired a volley of photon torpedoes at the Altair and then recloaked.

"Sir, our port shields are down to 65 percent," M'Rew informed.

"Thel, can you reinforce the shields in case the Bird-of-Prey decides to come around again?" Lyzara asked her chief engineer.

"I believe I can," he answered.

"When the ship decloaked, I scanned it and I am positive, that it was the same ship that attacked us before," T'Vrell said.

"You mean they followed us, but why?" Lyzara asked.

"Their reasons are unknown, but it seems like their intention is not to destroy us, but rather make us leave," the science officer said.

"But they could have just hailed us," Elisa stated.

"It wouldn't matter. We're here now and we're going to finish this mission one way or another," Lyzara said. "Helm set course for the listening post." And the Altair was closing in on the large asteroid in the field.

"Sir, we're receiving a hail from the Klingons," T'Vrell reported.

"On the main screen," The Captain said.

"Why does Starfleet interfere with the internal affairs of the Klingon Empire?" A dark-skinned Klingon Woman said. She had long dark brown hair and a fierce expression. On her left eye she wore an eye patch and a long scar was running down from her left eyebrow to her chin. Her good eye was hazel-colored and fixed on Lyzara. She wore dark brown body armor with round shoulder pads on both shoulders.

"We had no intention to interfere with your affairs, however this listening post is on the Federation territory and we have full right to be here. May I inquire who you are and why have you trespassed to Federation territory?" Lyzara answered.

"I am K'Val, daughter of Gara, from the house of Mol'An, Captain of the I.K.S. Acaltec. My intentions on the other hand are none of your concern. Leave now or I will destroy your ship."

"Don't threaten me, K'Val, you could have destroyed this vessel more than once, but you didn't. I want to know why," Lyzara said solemnly.

"That is none of your concern, Lyzara Dalis," K'Val answered.

"I never told you my name."

"You don't need to tell me anything, I've been following your progress, Dalis. You've been out of the academy for less than a month and already you have been made a ship commander and you have killed several Captains that are much more experienced than you are. You are really an extraordinary leader, I must admit," the Klingon said.

"I don't have time for this," Lyzara answered. "Are you going to attack my ship or not?"

"Attack you? No. I intend to help you," K'Val said with a smile.

"Captain, I don't believe her," Elisa said silently to Lyzara.

"Believe me or not, Commander Flores, frankly, I don't care," the Klingon snapped before Lyzara could answer. "I will beam down with you to the station; I suggest we hurry, because most likely we have been noticed by now," K'Val said and ceased the communication.

"Captain, that could be an ambush," Elisa stated.

"I don't think so. Njahla, Dgirexox, T'Vrell and Thel, you're coming with me. M'Rew, keep a target lock on the Klingon vessel and be ready to raise the shields, whether the away team is still down there or not. Elisa, you have the bridge," Lyzara said and stepped into the turbolift.

* * *

"Sir, we have received authorization from Starfleet to destroy this facility. It is considered vital to our war effort to protect our transmissions from enemy reception. I recommend we plant spatial charges throughout the area. If we hit several parts of the structure at once, it should suffer a catastrophic failure," T'Vrell said once they had beamed down. There was no sign of the Klingons. They were in one of the hallways. The corridor was hexagon-shaped and pipes ran across the walls. There were several crates around and consoles pulsed red, giving the walls a slight red glow. The lightning in the hallway was dim. They planted one of the charges right where they had beamed in and then entered to a room on their left. Klingons in the room took cover and exposed their weapons as the Starfleet officers hid in the doorframe. Two of the Klingons fell with a few shots, but the others constantly changed places to recharge their personal shields and keep firing at the away team. Suddenly, there were disruptor blasts behind the Klingons and when Lyzara turned to look, she saw that K'Val and her squad had taken care of them. The Klingon Captain was now wearing a black armor with smaller shoulder pads and tall boots. Into her team belonged another Klingon with a similar outfit, although he was also wearing gauntlets, a Nausicaan, who was wearing dark brown spiked armor and a breathing mask that covered most of his face, an Orion male and a Lethean who was wearing black body armor. To a bystander they would look quite an odd company, since Klingons usually veren't very eager to involve other species in their military operations. Lyzara soon realized why they were dressed in black or dark brown – that allowed them to blend in the shadows and make a surprise attack.

"I'm disappointed, you can't even handle a few Klingons by yourself," K'Val said. "Now, since you really need to destroy this station, better plant the spatial charges. Although it's sad really, it took such a long time to build it without Federation noticing." Lyzara decided to ignore K'Val's remarks and ordered Thel to set the charges. Then they moved back to the hallway they had come from and forward, around the corner. Thel planted one last charge another ten meters down the hallway and then informed: "Spatial charges are armed and ready, sir."

"Good, we need to determine what kind of sensitive information this listening post has picked up. We'll need to blast our way into the computer core and upload their records, just like we did at the listening post in the Lackey system. Thel, do we have enough spatial charges?" Lyzara said.

"Yes, I think so," the chief engineer answered and then K'Val, who had held back and remained silent for a while, said: "Are you serious? If you blow the doors, every Klingon on this station is going to come after you."

"Are you afraid, K'Val?" Lyzara asked.

"Don't insult me, Dalis. I am just pointing out that maybe you could be less conspicuous in your grand mission to protect the Federation. But don't let the mumblings of a Klingon disrupt you. Shall we continue?"

"After you," Lyzara said and they walked forward to the computer core.

* * *

There was a Klingon patrol just outside the core room, but they fell quickly as the ten officers killed them with phaser and disruptor blasts. Thel then planted a spatial charge on the door and they retreated around the corner to not be caught in an explosion. After the door blew, Lyzara and K'Val moved to both sides of the doorframe to assess the situation in the room and give orders to their teams for entry. Several Klingons in the room were already shooting their disruptors towards the intruders and K'Val signaled her squad to move in and hide behind the crates. Then she herself tapped something on her left arm and disappeared. Lyzara was quite amazed as she knew that Klingons rarely used personal cloaks. She also signaled her team to engage the enemies and rolled herself behind one of the containers in the room. The room was big with large view screens on the walls. There was a higher platform on the back of the room with several consoles on it, probably the main command consoles of the facility. Everything was still dimly lit. They kept constantly firing at the Klingons and Lyzara noticed that there was a melee fight going on between Dgirexox and a Klingon swordmaster. Dgirexox's blades were much more agile than the Bat'leth, and she was quickly gaining the upper hand and had already pierced the Klingon's armor in several places. In a few more moments the Klingons were dead and Lyzara could make her way to the platform to begin download. As she was setting up the link to the Altair, Njahla yelled:"More Klingons!" They took cover behind the consoles as the Klingons opened fire. Njahla threw in a grenade at them, killing three and making the others lose their footing. But more Klingons started to swarm in through the doors. K'Val shook her head, probably thinking _I told you so_, and threw a grenade at the enemies. It landed just in front of the door and caused a large plasma fire as it exploded, stopping the other Klingons from entering the room.

"You owe me one," she said to Lyzara as she turned her back on the door. But plasma fire apparently couldn't keep out everyone, because a Klingon swordmaster walked right through it, as if it hadn't hurt him at all. For a moment, everyone looked at the swordmaster with startled expressions and K'Val, who had been with her back at the door, slightly turned her head towards him, smiled and said: "I knew you had to be around here somewhere." Then she took a pistol off her belt and fired a single shot right into his head. For a moment it seemed to have no effect, but then the thing she had fired – a sticky bomb of some sort – beeped quickly three times and the swordmasted flew backwards against a wall. He seemed quite dead, but nobody dared to go in closer. A few seconds later they were glad they didn't, because the Klingon got up again and started twitching uncontrollably. His hands got longer and he seemed like he was climbing out of a shell. That Klingon swordmaster was an Undine! However, it didn't stay around to be hit with another sticky bomb and beamed up into the ship.

"That was an Undine infiltrator! They must be manipulating this whole situation to pit the Klingons and the Federation against each other – and to get valuable intelligence into Klingon hands for war," Dgirexox said to which K'Val made an impression that she was stating something very obvious.

"That makes it more critical than ever that we get this information back to Starfleet. We need to finish the download," Lyzara said and closed in on one of the computers.

"Captain, sensors just picked up an Undine ship on the far side of the moon! They've beamed someone aboard and are heading into the comet debris! Please return to the ship immediately!" Elisa said through the comm. Lyzara pressed a few buttons on the console and then said: "Very well, beam us up." Before she beamed out she could see K'Val detach something from the computer.

* * *

"Captain, the Klingon Bird-of-Prey is fighting the Undine ship! With their help we may be able to defeat it!" Elisa informed once they had reached the bridge.

"Well, let's help them," Lyzara said and the Altair was moving towards the Undine frigate that was already under fire from the Acaltec. The Bird-of-Prey was constantly flying around, making it hard to target, but the Undine ship kept constant pressure on its shields. The Altair fired a volley of photon torpedoes at the Undine frigate, crippling its port shields and making its hull vulnerable. Both ships concentrated their firepower there and although the Undine vessel was trying to get away, the Acaltec had no problems with keeping the hole in the shields in its front firing arc, while the less maneuverable Altair kept pressure on the shields while broadsiding, to prevent them from coming back up. The undine ship was viciously pounding them both with its antiproton arrays, but together they could destroy the vessel.

"Sir, the Klingon vessel is hailing us and K'Val is requesting to come aboard," T'Vrell informed.

"Request granted. Escort her to my ready room," Lyzara answered.

* * *

"Hello again, Captain. May I ask, what brings you onto my ship?" Lyzara said once they were alone with K'Val in her ready room.

"I assumed you wouldn't let me leave unless you got some answers. So shoot your questions – I believe you have many – and I'll do my best to give you satisfactory answers," K'Val said and sat down on the couch.

"Why are you suddenly so obliging?" Lyzara asked.

"You have aided me in battle, Captain, and I respect your bravery," K'Val said simply.

"I have aided you, but you killed your own people."  
"That was necessary for the success of my mission."

"As simple as that, huh? Are you working for some Klingon separatist organization?" Lyzara asked. It would be hard to believe that the High Council would someone to shoot their own people for the sake of the mission.

"I'm working for a task force that is committed to discovering and terminating the Undine infiltrators in the Klingon Empire. In some ways, my job lays above the law. My orders are to kill the infiltrators by all means. That inevitably requires also killing Klingons every once in a while, although usually I work much more silently," K'Val explained calmly.

"But how come you know so much about me?"

"I first learned about you through the best possible source – the Undine. They have grown quite an interested in you."

"Why?" Lyzara asked, quite puzzled.

"That you're going to have to ask them," K'Val said. "But it seems like it's time for me to go. In honor of your actions against the Undine, we will not destroy you… today. Next time you may not be so fortunate."

"Perhaps someday we'll fight on the same side again, Captain," Lyzara answered and K'Val beamed out.


End file.
